The Blue Mountains council chambers were the latest setting for the ongoing debate about the merits of a proposal to locate a pumped storage energy generation facility at a local military base.
The two sides of the debate were out in full force at The Blue Mountains council’s committee of the whole meeting on March 18. A delegation from John Mikkelsen of TC Energy, the project’s proponent, attracted a number of delegations to the meeting to express opposition to the proposal.
Late in 2023, The Blue Mountains council supported – in principle – a resolution from the Township of Archipelago that opposed the pumped storage project at the military base located in Meaford. The project would see a large water reservoir built at the base, water from Georgian Bay would be pumped up to the reservoir during the night when electricity is cheaper. During the day, when electricity prices are higher, the water would flow back down into the bay to generate electricity to be fed to the grid.
The proposal is currently working its way through a number of federal and provincial approvals processes that will take multiple years to complete.
The proposal has generated widespread community opposition and criticism and Mikkelsen’s appearance as a delegation prompted numerous opponents of the project to also speak to council.
In his presentation, Mikkelsen heralded the project as an important step in fighting climate change and also said the project represented an opportunity for meaningful reconciliation with the local Indigenous community.
“The rationale for this project continues to get stronger,” said Mikklesen, who said TC Energy plans to have a meaningful partnership with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation on the project. “We will not proceed without their support.”
Opponents of the project who spoke at the meeting said its finances didn’t add up and that it could be an environmental disaster for Georgian Bay and the Niagara Escarpment. They urged council to continue to oppose the concept.
“It’s not worth the risk,” Tom Buck of the Save Georgian Bay Association told council.
Amanda Greenfield called the whole project “foolish.”
“Town of The Blue Mountains, keep on doing what is right and stand with your resolution,” said Greenfield, in reference to council’s support of the Archipelago resolution.
Jeremy Wentworth-Stanley said the project would be a “financial imbroglio” and he questioned the viability of the entire project if nighttime energy rates ever increased.
After the presentations, Coun. Paula Hope asked Mikkelsen how TC Energy was able to secure access to the military base property. Hope noted that the 19,000-acre base property had been expropriated from many families in the 1940s to become a training centre for military personnel.
“How come TC Energy managed to get to the front of the line to get this opportunity?” Hope asked.
Mikkelsen said the Dominion Water Power Act provided the first opportunity for access, which was followed by permission from the Department of National Defence.
Mayor Andrea Matrosovs cited the job creation numbers in Mikkelsen’s presentation and asked about TC Energy’s housing strategy during construction.
“We are in an identified affordable/attainable housing crisis,” said Matrosovs. “What is the strategy for the short-term and long-term?”
Mikkelsen said those details were still unfolding and said it would be premature to make any “concrete commitments.”
“It’s something we understand we’re going to have to address as part of the project,” he said.
Coun. Gail Ardiel asked Mikkelsen how TC Energy would address the issue of unexploded ordnance on the property where the reservoir will be built.
Mikkelsen said the company will be responsible to “identify, clear and remediate” any unexploded ordnance found. He said a full assessment of the area of the base the reservoir would use will be completed and cleaned up if the project goes ahead.
Council took no action at the meeting, other than to pass a resolution to receive the various presentations about the project.
