The Municipality of…

The Municipality of Greenstone is in full support of the proposed Greenstone Transmission line, including designating the line as a Priority Project under s 96.1 of the Ontario Energy Board Act and designating Hydro One as the Transmitter in partnership with indigenous communities in the region Greenstone is located within.

The Greenstone area experiences regular lengthy power outages, often lasting 10 hours or more, in a region that is not only remote but also experiences significant inclement weather including extreme cold temperatures. Furthermore, there is a current lack of available capacity on the A4L line for new industry. This lack of capacity and reliability of electricity in our region has hindered economic prosperity and has added significant costs to residents and industry over the years. The lengthy outages also pose health and safety risks to residents in the area.

The Municipality feels it is important that the initial phase have a terminating point in or near Aroland First Nation, and include a connection to a new or current Transformer Station (TS) at or around the Longlac TS, to ensure benefits can be experienced by the whole region. Furthermore, the initial design and construction should include two circuits as it is the most feasible option to meet the long-term needs of the area and Province (as outlined in the IESO’s Northern Ontario Connection Study.) These connections and additional circuit would enhance reliability of power in the region as it would effectively provide a loop or redundancy in the transmission system for times when service on one circuit (including on the A4L) is interrupted.

Designating Hydro One as the Transmitter enables the project to be constructed and operated by an experienced Transmitter with assets in the region. More importantly, it supports the partnership developed between Hydro One and the area indigenous communities.