Ontario’s ministry of energy has greenlighted five transmission projects between London, Windsor and Sarnia, representing an investment of more than $1 billion by 2030.

In the Kingsville-Leamington area alone, there is a currently a queue of greenhouse vegetable customers waiting to connect to the electricity grid. Electricity demands in the Windsor-Essex and Chatham areas alone are forecasted to grow from roughly 500 megawatts (MW) of peak demand today to about 2,100 MW in 2035. That’s the equivalent of adding a city the size of Ottawa to the grid.

“Our government is supporting the incredible growth in Southwest Ontario by accelerating the development of five new transmission lines that will power the new Stellantis–LGES battery plant, the growing greenhouse sector and other job creators,” said Todd Smith, Minister of Energy. “As our government reduces the price of doing business, including by lowering electricity prices by 15-17 per cent for large commercial and industrial customers, we have seen significant new investment. Today we are demonstrating our commitment to build the critical infrastructure to support those new jobs.”

The government has issued an Order-in-Council declaring three transmission line projects as priorities, streamlining the Ontario Energy Board’s (OEB) regulatory approval process for these lines. The priority declaration requires the OEB to accept that the three initial lines are needed when assessing whether the projects are in the public interest, expediting the review process so projects can be brought online earlier.

The Minister of Energy has also directed the OEB to amend the transmission license of Hydro One Networks Inc. (Hydro One), requiring it to undertake development work and seek approvals for four of the identified transmission lines. Hydro One was previously designated as the transmitter for the Chatham-to-Lakeshore line in 2020.

Source:  Ontario Ministry of Energy, April 4, 2022 news release