Editor,
During our October 6th Council Meeting, Councillor Bell as well as our Deputy Mayor Ms. Keaveney made comments with regards to the delayed Community Benefits. Our CAO Mr. Everitt then mentioned the wonderful relationship council has with TCE. I agree council and TCE have forged a wonderful friendship BUT as councillor Forder mentioned, Council’s support is not mirrored by the community in general. This big beautiful, wonderful Canadian Corporation has offered this fantastic opportunity to advance an energy storage project. The CAO Mr. Everitt mentions, while on the drilling platform, the care and attention that was being given to protecting the environment and Georgian Bay. The mayor mentions that TCE offered a key commitment to a substantial percentage of supply chain investment in the Municipality of Meaford.
When corporations, especially large multi million-dollar corporations want something they know how to go about getting it. TC Energy has a playbook and they know when dealing with a small country town like Meaford our council have limited experience in putting up a strong defence against Corporate Agenda. Here are a few of TC Energy’s plays**( From The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel documentary)
– Present yourself as a friend and an Ally (note CAO’s comment)
– Turn the public against your adversaries (selling SGB as conspiracy theory people)
– Take whatever you can (develop on the escarpment and Georgian Bay)
– Manipulate our view (PSP is the only solution?)
– Exploit unequal Advantage (TCE as sole supplier: no bidding process)
– Control those who might control you (council are ducks in a row)
– Break laws that get in your way. We shall see
– Win at all costs (this says it all)
Why, when presented with modern alternatives to Energy Storage, do our elected officials turn away from the facts and rely on corporate agenda? All the statements made by council members at the October 6th meeting seem positive. But things have changed: none of these revelations from council matter! PSP has been proven to no longer be viable so these “relationships” have no relevance: I know it, professional engineers know it, IESO know it, various Georgian Bay Councils know it and even SGB know it.
Hence for the benefit of all, go ahead and add your cherished CBA to the list. It does not matter! To allow this boondoggle to proceed you must know there is no turning back. Your legacies will not be positive if you allow TCE to screw with our natural pristine landscapes: especially knowing all the facts! Again, I will list some again!
TCE’s Pumped Energy Storage Project: A list of Consequences:
– Time to Construct: from today likely 7 years.
– Cost: Estimated $7.3 billion today but going up annually (be $10 billion by completion?)
– Efficiency at best +/- 69% (including transmission line losses). A daily waste of 400 MW of energy: it takes 1400MW to produce 1000MW in this Pumped Storage project. It is in no way a “Green” project.
– Construction Challenges: Damages to local Infrastructure.
– Construction damages: Possible release of toxins from the DND lands into local groundwaters and aquifers: it is a military training centre!
– Construction Again: damages to our Niagara Escarpment a World Biosphere protected land.
– Operational Damages: Increase turbidity and elevated temperature of pristine Georgian Bay waters. Do any of you understand what 23 billion litres daily looks like?
– Operational Destruction: killing of smaller fish at the water intakes to the tune of hundreds of thousands annually which is totally against Fisheries Canada Guidelines to fisheries protection.
– PSP is NOT a net gain to the Electricity grid: it is a net loss of 400MW daily: enough to power close to forty thousand homes (10kw/day house). PSP does not add to the grid as some would argue.
– Sole Source procurement: there was no bidding process for this energy storage requirement.
There are a couple of options that come to my mind and really should also come to yours. Both remove not one but all the above-mentioned drawbacks that TCE’s proposal will present.
- B.E.S.S. : Battery Energy Storage Systems.
- Time to Construct: 2 years
- Costs: to match 50 years duration and 1000MW facility: $2 billion assuming 25-year battery life and 8/250MW facilities. The catch here of course is with battery systems we can build and save money over time.
- Efficiency: BESS operate at about 92% meaning that it wastes way less energy than PSP and technology is making even better efficiencies available.
- Construction: No infrastructure Damage. No toxins from DND training grounds. No damage to the escarpment. No damages to Georgian Bay, the turbidity or the fish and wildlife within. Virtually no transmission lines. BESS can be built on wasted lands under existing high power transmission lines so no loss of valuable lands.
- Sole Source: There would be several companies, Canadian companies even Ontario companies that would be interested in the bidding process: it would be an open and ethical process.
- Communities and our indigenous partners across Ontario could participate.
- Available Energy Hydro Electric Solutions
- Quebec have lots of excess energy that we could use for Ontario: a win/win at a very low cost. We only would need some transmission lines.
- Manitoba Energy being developed could also be a future solution to energy requirements. We only would need some transmission lines.
Building this TC Energy Pumped Storage project is one massive ill-advised project that we are stuck with for 50 to 100 years and provide no access to new technologies.
As elected government officials I assume you are fully aware of your responsibilities to your constituents. These exchanges we have with our council also relate to our provincial government. There is no “NIMBY” (Not in My Back Yard) going on here: you have 300+ homes that you are elected to protect yet you are putting them at risk for what? A boondoggle! At present I am unable to support anything but the cancellation of this TC Energy project. I know the IESO would also support cancellation based on cost alone. It is time to accept responsibility for your decisions and do what is right.
Pat Maloney, Meaford
