Editor,
Thank you to Steven Carr for writing again to express his views about the Ontario Pumped Storage Project. Constructive feedback from residents of Meaford has and will continue to shape the design and the communications plan for our project.
The need for vast amounts of storage to balance Ontario’s intermittent renewable and baseload nuclear power and reduce our dependency on fossil fuel generation has been established through independent studies by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). Globally it is well understood that a pathway to net zero cannot be achieved without storage.
I want to reiterate that we will only be permitted to build this Project once it passes through rigorous federal and provincial environmental assessment processes that are in place to ensure that Georgian Bay and the local environment will be protected. These assessment processes are transparent and public and there will be multiple opportunities for community input.
In addition, professional system operators at the IESO will assess the Project to ensure that it is needed for grid reliability and that it provides affordable value to ratepayers. Finally, this made-in-Ontario project will provide a lasting local impact through employment, investments in local businesses and the community.
We look forward to ongoing dialogue with Meaford on a Community Betterment Agreement that prioritizes Meaford and its residents. Community input will be important to this process. We invite Mr. Carr – and all Meaford residents – to share their thoughts by joining one of our weekly Community Coffee Chats, visiting our Community Information Centre at 390 N. Sykes Street, or giving us a call at 519-538-7941.
John Mikkelsen P.Eng. M.A.Sc., Project Director TC Energy
