Hydro One is powering up a massive investment in Orillia in what the mayor is calling a “transformative” deal for the city.
Hydro One’s acting chief operating officer, Darlene Bradley, announced the provincial utility is investing $150 million to build a new Ontario grid control centre in west Orillia.
“This innovative, state-of-the-art facility will be Hydro One’s key facility in distributing and transmitting power across the province of Ontario, providing safe and reliable power to power the communities of Ontario,” Bradley said at a Monday afternoon media conference at the Orillia Waterfront Centre.
Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke likened the investment to other landmark decisions that have helped shape Orillia.
“In 1969, Georgian College opened its doors in Orillia,” said the mayor. “In 1995, we were fortunate to have the grand opening of the OPP General Headquarters … and in 2006, Lakehead University welcomed its first students.
“This project, many of us believe, has the potential to be just as transformative,” said Clarke. “It’s a day to celebrate.”
It’s a day that likely would not have happened had Hydro One not approached Orillia in 2015 with the desire to purchase the distribution component of Orillia Power.
At first, the city was not interested, Clarke explained. However, when Hydro One said they were interested in “investing in the community,” the city became more interested.
Over a year of negotiations, the two sides eventually consummated a deal. However, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) kiboshed the sale of the Orillia Power Distribution Corporation.
After that “disappointing” decision, the two sides decided to re-file their application with the provincial regulator. A decision is expected later this year.
However, that decision will not have an impact on Monday’s announcement.
“This announcement is not tied to the OEB decision,” Clarke told OrilliaMatters after the announcement. “This project is going on.”
Bradley said Orillia is a perfect fit to be the new home of the "state-of-the-art" facility.
“Orillia is an ideal location for our control centre,” said Bradley, noting its proximity “to existing infrastructure, key highways” and its current facility in Barrie.
She said about 150 to 250 staff will be moving to this new facility - most from Barrie, which will become a backup centre and training facility.
“These are high-skilled workers that will run the distribution network and supply the power across the province,” she said.
Construction on the new facility is expected to start later this year and the hope is it will open sometime in 2021.
Once open, the Orillia “facility will supply electricity across all of Ontario, to large industrial customers to local electric utilities and the 1.4 million customers that Hydro One supplies energy to,” Bradley explained.
She said Orillia “is especially important to us given that we have been working closely with the city on the potential purchase of Orillia Power.”
“We are hopeful the OEB approves that transaction later this year ... and look forward to welcoming Orillia Power and their customers to the Hydro One family,” said Bradley.
“Once that transaction is completed, we look forward to announcing future investments in the community,” she said.
While most of the jobs are not ‘new’ jobs, Clarke predicted Orillians will, eventually, have an opportunity to work at the facility.
“When the OPP came to town, there were not many jobs initially for Orillians,” said the mayor. “Now we have over 800 people living in Orillia, working at GHQ. It will be an evolution ... hopefully, Orillians will be able to work into those jobs.”
Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop lauded the announcement.
“With this move, you have enhanced the working environment of our community, bolstered our local economy and allowed us to further our goals of making Orillia a more inclusive place to live,” said Dunlop.
City CAO Gayle Jackson noted the investment, coupled with the payroll impact of up to 250 highly skilled jobs, “equates to an economic impact of $400 million for the City of Orillia.”
She said “these types of investments” only happen when you have “community ambassadors that are welcoming and inclusive … focused and collaborative decision makers that provide clear direction that economic development is a priority for this community and an administration that is eager and confident to deliver" the strategy.
“Hydro one’s investment in Orillia is one of the largest the community has seen,” said Jackson.