Regional staff appreciate…

Regional staff appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and the Independent Electricity Systems Operator’s proposed guiding principles and narrowed area of interest for the Northwest GTA Transmission Corridor Identification Study.

The comments in the enclosed submission are from Regional staff and are subject to endorsement by Region of Peel Council. Regional staff will be reporting to Council on the Transmission Corridor Study in July 2020, and endorsement of staff’s comments as well as the provision of further comments to the Province may occur at that time.

Regional staff support early identification and protection of this corridor to meet the Region’s future electricity demands, which are anticipated to increase as a result of electrification (for heating, transportation and conventional uses) and future growth. Regional staff have grouped the comments into three broad categories:

1. Comments on Guiding Principles
2. Comments on the proposed narrowed study area
a. Current Region of Peel planning initiatives impacted by future transmission corridor
b. Protection of Region’s agricultural lands, natural heritage system and water resources, and climate change mitigation and adaptation
c. Region’s existing and planned infrastructure assets
3. Local municipal impacts, planning initiatives and opportunities for coordination

Regional staff anticipate working with the Ministry and the IESO to advance this study and the further narrowing of the area of interest (NAI) as the study team moves forward with identifying the route and required width for the transmission corridor.

Encl. 1 – Region of Peel Submission
Encl. 2 – Settlement Area Boundary Expansion Focused Study Area Map
Encl. 3 – Settlement Area Boundary Expansion Update Report