For the first time in more than a decade, the Ontario Government will be adding hydro-generated wattage to the power grid.
The provincial government is launching the Northern Hydro Program, a new effort to renew all of northern Ontario’s old hydro station contracts, and to procure new hydroelectric power and storage in the region.
Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce was in Thunder Bay to announce the new program, which he says will secure the continued production of 1000 megawatts of electricity for the grid.
“That’s the power for roughly 1,000,000 homes,” explains the minister, stating that hydro “is the cheapest form of power we produce.”
Minister Lecce drew attention to Hydro One’s equity partnership model with First Nations at the announcement, which can offer an ownership stake of up to 50 per cent in energy projects, such as transmission lines.
Chief Clifford Bull of the Lac Seul First Nation, who spoke at the announcement, credited the equity partnerships as a way to “provide an opportunity for reconciliation through sharing of benefits and meaningful participation.”
“Communities ultimately are coming to the realization they ought to be doing this,” says Lecce of the equity partnerships. “It’s the right thing to do for the local community to the benefit of our broader economy, so we’re proud to do it.”
