Dear Editor,
I appreciate Mr. Mikkelsen’s August 1st Letter to the Editor invitation for me to discuss possible improvements to the proposed TC Energy (TCE) Pumped Storage project. I’m sure there are many ways this project can be improved but this would be a pointless exercise.
Simply put, an open-loop pumped storage project like this does not belong on pristine Georgian Bay, our beautiful escarpment or anywhere! Back in the 1970s, an archaic project like this (or Ludington) was acceptable. However, in these modern times, more efficient and less costly energy storage technologies that have far less environmentally damaging footprints are emerging now.
These new technologies, the obvious drawbacks of pumped storage and the prediction of electricity rates flattening (off-peak rates = peak rates) could render this Meaford pumped storage project totally obsolete in the near future.
The only thing that won’t be obsolete about this project is a 50-year contract rate guarantee that TC Energy appears to be seeking. This means that, no matter what happens to this pumped storage project or electricity market conditions, the citizens of Meaford, and all the other ratepayers and taxpayers of Ontario will be paying for this enormous, costly project for 50 years!
TC Energy could also sell the contract and project to another business entity, such as a hedge fund. They recently sold off the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline in B.C. to an American business entity. Pat Maloney stated in his recent letter that “TCE does not care”. A hedge fund “really would not care”. Its goal is solely to make money for its investors and management.
I will quote a recent article in The Narwhal: “On Thursday, on a remote forest service road in northwest B.C., Gitanyow Simgiget (Hereditary Chiefs) burned a benefits agreement they signed with TC Energy 10 years ago in support of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline, saying it will “make our ancestors happy.” The burning ceremony came after the chiefs, supported by dozens of youth from surrounding communities, closed their territories to all traffic related to the new pipeline and set up a blockade.”
The Bad River Ojibway Nation in Wisconsin is in a continuing legal battle to have an old, exposed Enbridge pipeline (that they previously allowed in) removed from their land. This pipeline is threatening to leak and pollute the Bad River and Lake Superior. Clearly, Indigenous people are starting to regret their dealings with these large pipeline corporations.
In his “Rant” section in the Independent (The 3Rs…Rants, Raves & Rumours, August 29, 2024, print edition), Stephen Vance recently stated about the Toronto Excellence College in Meaford:
“I would like to see council cast a more critical eye when it comes to new development proposals. A municipal council, always looking for ‘wins’, can become too excited at times about any proposal put before them.”
“A council that thinks critically, as opposed to simply salivating over any entity that proposes something new in this community, would be a council that would have asked the same questions that the rest of us were asking last year when the proposal was announced.”
“Not every proposal is worthy of excitement and hype; some just don’t make sense.”
The Meaford, Owen Sound and Grey County councils that voted to become “willing hosts” for the TCE proposed Pumped Storage project should heed Mr. Vance’s wise advice, instead of “salivating” and blindly following a “Pied Piper’s” dubious claims. Potentially sacrificing the quality of Georgian Bay water for generations to obtain some temporary “promised crumbs” from TC Energy is surely a poor trade.
TCE’s frequently advertised claims of local “economic benefits” and “higher living standards” are only substantiated by supposedly “independent” reports (e.g., Navigant Consulting and CANCEA) that are guided by and paid by TCE. An annual payment of $1.5M to the Town of Meaford is a miniscule amount, compared to the billions of dollars TCE and its associates would acquire from this pumped storage project.
In response to Craig Jowett’s August 1st letter, I agree that a sewer system for Meaford shoreline houses would be a good idea, except that this system would be installed on old properties at enormous expense and inconvenience during its construction (unlike within Meaford and Lora Bay, etc. where it was installed along with new construction). The cost would be well beyond the affordability of Meaford, unless there was provincial support. This shoreline sewage problem occurs all around Georgian Bay and isn’t unique to Meaford.
However, I can’t believe that a retired P.Eng. (Mr. Jowett) would state that he prefers the potentially massive environmental damage of this proposed TCE Pumped Storage project to a ski hill’s environmental footprint.
Clearly, he either has minimal factual knowledge of this project or he has had a previous close working relationship with TC Energy. In the first case, I would be happy to educate him more about the possible ramifications of this project.
Too many people seem to take the pristine beauty of this area for granted. If Georgian Bay becomes polluted from this project, there will be a sharp decrease in the area’s living standards and the local economy will suffer.
Best Regards,
Mike McTaggart, Meaford
