Owen Sound council is offering its conditional support to TC Energy’s proposed pumped storage project.
Council voted unanimously at its meeting Monday to conditionally support TC Energy’s pumped storage proposal subject to the completion of all assessments and consultations, and the approval of Saugeen Ojibway Nation. The city will send a letter to TC Energy advising the company of the resolution.
The motion council passed was amended from a recommendation brought by staff, to ensure it reflects Owen Sound’s support of the project is conditional.
The vote came after a number of Meaford residents who are part of a group opposed to the pumped storage project — Save Georgian Bay — flooded question period and urged city council to hold off giving its support.
“We were quite surprised to see the staff report to come out asking for you to write a letter in favour of the project without any consultation from Save Georgian Bay,” says Kelly Haslem of Save Georgian Bay. “We also note that the report is lacking in that it does not consider several significant environmental and economic factors we think are relevant to your decision to support the project or not.”
Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy acknowledged the questions raised by Save Georgian Bay about environmental impact and feasibility need to be answered in the regulatory process, but says he doesn’t agree that opposing it without the completion of required environmental and other assessments makes sense.
“We need to get that information by the experts and allow the decision-making to take place,” Boddy says. “That is why I’m moving to move ahead conditionally at this time.”
TC Energy is proposing a 1,000-megawatt pumped storage facility on Department of Defence lands at the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre in Meaford. The project would support the electricity grid by pumping water from Georgian Bay to a reservoir when power demand is lower, and then releasing the water through a turbine and back into the bay during high-demand times to add energy into the system.
Clark Little, local engagement coordinator for TC Energy on Meaford pumped storage, told Owen Sound councillors Monday TC Energy has made a commitment to project will not proceed without the support and participation of Saugeen Ojibway Nation.
“For SON, the waters of Georgian Bay bring a sustained life. Their relationship with the bay is sacred and they have a duty to care and protect the water,” Little says. “The Saugeen Ojibway Nation have informed us they will not allow this project to move forward if we cannot demonstrate that we are protecting Georgian Bay.”
Ontario’s Minister of Energy Todd Smith indicated in a letter in January he asked ministry officials to work with the Ontario Energy Board and TC Energy on an appropriate long-term revenue framework for the pumped storage project, and a report is expected by the end of July.
In addition to other regulatory approvals, TC Energy said in a statement earlier this year the project also remains subject to the approval of its board and Saugeen Ojibway Nation.
“It is expected construction for the project would begin in the latter part of this decade with in-service in the early 2030s, subject to the receipt of regulatory and corporate approvals,” the company said in a January update.