Editor,
Consistent with TC Energy’s public invitation to ask questions about the Pumped Storage Project (PSP), on February 7, as a Hydro-Electric Engineer, I emailed 5 such questions to them and copied this inquiry to all members of our Town Council. This is because Council has declared Meaford as a “Willing Host” for PSP, yet for any approval to be credibly rendered, the responses to these critical questions must be known and analyzed.
With due respect to Council, this Willing Host status has been granted without full and accurate disclosure from the applicant, TC Energy, relating to the operational efficiency of PSP, the CO2 its construction will generate and its necessity in our future, where millions of EVs will be charged with Off-Peak energy surpluses at night.
TC Energy refuses to answer my inquiry. This blatant obfuscation of data critical to project analysis ought to be of great concern to Council, given the fact this multi-billion-dollar corporation is attempting to secure an untendered, sole sourced approval for a mega civil project without competition. This highly irregular process is in complete defiance of our Free-Market, competitive procurement practices in Ontario.
Council should wonder why my industry-standard inquiry has been dismissed or ignored. Could it be that TCE knows I will not allow it to get away with its historical, ambiguous and incomplete rhetoric? Could it be this company does not wish full disclosure about the true performance of their energy storage ambitions? A “non-response” to my inquiry is a “response” in itself. Council therefore has acted prematurely. In so doing, they have vicariously exposed Ontario taxpayers and ratepayers to a potentially inappropriate and overpriced acquisition with a 50+ year obligation of patronage.
On behalf of all Ontarians, I strenuously suggest to Meaford Council they withdraw/suspend their Willing Host designation for the project. They are exposing themselves and the Town of Meaford to impending consequences relating to exercising a lack of due diligence.
The matter of acquiring an energy storage facility with a capacity of 1,000 Megawatts needs to be competitively tendered with bidders offering technologies of their choosing with Performance Guarantees of energy capture ratios. Until this tendering process is orchestrated, consideration of TCE’s uninvited application needs to be terminated.
Stephen Carr, Meaford
