Gary Holden, CEO of Enmax, accuses the province of holding unethical meetings with power companies. (CBC)

Premier Ed Stelmach is calling allegations of secret deals with power companies "a bunch of crap."

Gary Holden, the head of Calgary's Enmax Corp. utility, accused the Alberta government of holding unethical meetings over several months with major electricity firms that could be part of building key power transmission lines.

Bill 50, controversial legislation that passed last month, includes building "critically needed" power lines but omits a regulatory requirement for the Alberta Utilities Commission to hold public hearings on whether the lines are necessary.

The bill pushes ahead with five major transmission projects worth $8.1 billion.

Enmax, the Calgary-owned utility company, said it opposed Bill 50 because of a lack of transparency and public consultation.

"When you take meetings behind closed doors where large infrastructure is discussed, the idea of doing that without all of the checks and balances — without the questions being asked, without the experts under oath — then you're inevitably going to come up with a solution that is biased towards those that wish to build these projects," Holden said Wednesday.

The province first brought up the projects in two meetings in February and March, attended by senior officials from the Energy Department, Alberta Energy System Operator and power companies, said Holden.

Holden said his company's position was that the proposed lines weren't in the public interest and there was no proof they were necessary.

But provincial officials basically told the power companies not to worry about those concerns, proper assessment or regulation, Holden alleged.

"There is no doubt in anyone's mind, I believe, at that meeting that the needs process was going to be set aside in lieu of an expedient process," Holden said Wednesday. "And our view is expediency isn't the issue, protection of the consumer is the issue and, therefore, a needs process is absolutely required."

Had to move quickly, premier says

Stelmach dismissed the allegations at a news conference in Calgary on Wednesday.

"It's actually a bunch of crap," said the premier. "And we've just seen in the last couple of days that we have a record consumption of electricity, given the cold weather, that speaks well to the reason to move very quickly on transmission and make sure we get energy to every corner of this province and that we have enough generation."

'This is a very secretive government. We all know that they have made decisions consistently behind closed doors.'—David Swann, Alberta Liberal leader

Stelmach said this week was the first time he had heard the allegation, and he asked why Holden didn't mention it at a meeting with the premier a few months ago.

Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann has asked the province's ethics commissioner to investigate what was discussed at the meetings.

"This is a very secretive government," said Swann. "We all know that they have made decisions consistently behind closed doors. They don't honour the political process. They seem to show contempt for the public purse in the way they've spent money."

Energy Minister Mel Knight distributed information sheets to news media, outlining the dates of the meetings and the attendees.

"It's all there. So, as far as I'm concerned, I don't know that holding hearings or investigations into what happened in those meetings, not very much ... positive that I can see you can gain from that," said Knight.