Hydro One locking in on new regional power corridor

Electricity distributor Hydro One, moving to meet soaring power demand in Southwestern Ontario, says it’s confident its preferred route for its next new high-voltage line is the way to go.

Already, there’s been plenty of public consultation about the new 230-kilovolt St. Clair transmission line, which will run from the Lambton transfer station near Courtright to a Chatham switching station. The line will use 80 per cent of existing transmission corridors and will pass through a transfer station in Wallaceburg, with upgrades needed to that station.

The St. Clair line, construction of which the utility says will cost an estimated $300 million to $400 million, will transmit about 400 megawatts of power, enough to power a city the size of Windsor.

Five routes were considered, with the preferred option scoring the overall best in four categories: least impact on the natural environment, lowest socio-economic impact, least effect on Indigenous culture, values ​​and land and technical and cost impact.

Three community open houses were held recently, the final one Wednesday in Chatham.

It’s likely only some tweaks, such as shifting a line tower location a few meters to avoid anything on property along the route, would be needed, an official said.

“In some instances there may be some minor adjustments that are necessary,” said Sonny Karunakaran, Hydro One’s director of project delivery.

Landowners are encouraged to keep providing feedback “so these sorts of refinements can be made,” he added.

Anything that might trigger a major change to the route now “would need to be something pretty significant that comes forward,” given the feedback so far, Karunakaran said.

“We’re fairly confident with the level of engagement and feedback that we have to form and shape this sort of decision,” he said, adding the utility would assess anything significant that might come up yet using the same process it used to determine the preferred route.

He said Hydro One has to be flexible to make adjustments if unknown obstacles arise or, for example, if ground too soft is found where a foundation is needed for a transmission tower.

Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator estimates demand for power will quadruple in Southwestern Ontario by 2035. That’s left Hydro One with a mandate to build up to five new transmission lines in coming years to serve residential and business growth needs.

The utility recently began construction on another new transmission line running from Chatham to Lakeshore, in neighboring Essex County.

One of the major driving factors for the power upgrades in Southwestern Ontario is the flood of new investment coming, worth billions of dollars, to build electric vehicle battery plants in Windsor and St. Thomas.

Chatham-Kent-Leamington MP Dave Epp, noting the area is growing, credited the provincial utility for its public consultations about the St. Clair transmission line project.

He said just as pipeline giant Enbridge is putting in new natural gas lines, also driven by demand, the new power transmission lines planned are needed to service all that growth.

Hydro One is required to have the St. Clair line in service by 2028, Karunakaran said.

“Ideally, we would be starting construction around the beginning of 2026,” he said, adding if the line can be completed sooner than expected, “we will absolutely do so.”