Open houses early next month are a chance for the public to have a say on where a new transmission line will be constructed in northeastern Ontario.
Hydro One has released the options for where a 500 kilovolt (KV) transmission line could be built between Timmins and Wawa. Open houses are being held in July in Timmins, Chapleau and Wawa.
“The project open houses are an opportunity for members of the public to come in and learn a little bit about the project, to ask a bunch of questions, and provide any feedback that they might have,” said Sonny Karunakaran, Hydro One vice president of strategic projects and partnerships.
Hydro One won the bid to build the project, which is expected to go into service in 2030, in December. The company has a 50-50 partnership with Wabun Tribal Council.
The project will connect the Porcupine Transfer Station, located in Schumacher, to the Wawa Transfer Station.
The potential routes are broken into three segments.
There are two options for how the line could run from the Porcupine Transfer Station to just west of Timmins. There are five options for the section between Timmins and Chapleau, and two options from Chapleau to Wawa.
The public feedback, said Karunakaran, will help inform the decision-making, along with environmental studies, technical aspects, socio-economic factors and Indigenous values and land use.
“This project is required in order to provide more electricity into the region. It allows for electrification of industries, for expansion and development of the economy as part of the energy transition," he said.
It will also allow for greater capacity and resiliency for the power system.
"It means that some of the other electricity infrastructure that’s in the area can be offloaded to allow for areas along the way to benefit from further electrification and to allow for further economic growth and development,” said Karunakaran.
The project is one of the recommendations in an Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) report. It made suggestions to improve reliability for existing and future loads in the Timmins area, and increase power transfer capability from Sudbury to supply future loads in the Sault Ste. Marie area and northwest regions.
By 2025, the IESO predicts the electricity demand in northeastern Ontario will grow by 540 megawatts, which is a spike of 28 per cent. The forecast includes new mining developments and industrial loads in the region.
The route options are on a mix of private and Crown land.
An interactive map at hydroone.com/wawatimmins allows users to scroll in to see exactly what areas would be impacted.
Karunakaran encourages landowners who will potentially be impacted to attend the open houses.
"Once the preferred route is identified there is ongoing discussions that would be occurring with each of those landowners around what land acquisition would look like in order to house the actual transmission line during the construction, and operations and maintenance phase,” he said.
The notice of starting the environmental assessment is the first step of the project. As such, Karunakaran said it's too early to say how big of a project this is in terms of cost.
"As we advance the project and give it further definition and can actually select the preferred route and move forward with some of our regulatory applications. In particular, there’s one called the leave to construct with the Ontario Energy Board. We would then be able to provide an estimate for the actual cost to construct this project,” he said.
Hydro One hopes to choose the preferred route by the end of 2025. Construction of the transmission line is expected to start in the summer of 2028, with the transmission line going in service in December 2030.
The open houses are:
- Timmins, July 7, 4-8 p.m. at the South Porcupine Legion, 46 Legion Dr.
- Chapleau, July 8, 4-8 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 5, 33 Young St.
- Wawa, July 9, 4-8 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 429, 51 Broadway Ave.
People unable to attend in person can provide feedback online.
