The province isn’t saying the plan to convert Thunder?Bay’s coal-fired generating station to natural gas is dead.
But the writing is on the wall.
Last week Energy Minister Chris Bentley took a proactive approach, calling newsrooms across the city after news broke the conversion had been halted.
“It’s only a pause,” is the message he tried to deliver.
But a quick discussion with?Union Gas suggested otherwise. They told city officials the window to continue the 16-inch, 30-kilometre pipeline was all but closed.
Bentley said the Ontario Power Authority thinks it can save the province $400 million to deliver the power to Northwestern Ontario when the grid hits over-capacity levels.
It sounds good today, when our power needs are mostly met through hydro generation.
But what happens when mining activity ramps up, as it’s expected to do in the next decade or so. Projections suggest we may need double the amount of power, a number the TBGS could help supply if the natural gas conversion is allowed to go foward.
Why not produce the power ourselves, rather than rely on southern Ontario, Mantioba or Minnesota to meet our energy needs. Seems like a logical conclusion.
