NADF calls on province to address hydro rates

Officials with the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund are challenging the province to address the hydro rates that may deter construction of a ferrochrome production plant in northern Ontario.

Cliffs Natural Resources released a report last week designed to spur stakeholder discussions for its planned potential development of the Black Thor chromite deposit in the McFaulds Lake area of the province, better known as the Ring of Fire.

The Cleveland-based company named Sudbury as its base-case scenario for the FPC to be located in Ontario, but Ferroalloys president Bill Bloor said unless energy costs are brought under control, the work will likely go elsewhere.

On Tuesday, officials with the NADF released a statement calling on the province to find a solution to deter companies like Cliffs from sending work out of province.

“Several Aboriginal businesses will benefit from the development of this facility, and if not, we stand to miss out on many opportunities,” NADF president and CEO Harvey Yesno is quoted as saying in a news release issued Tuesday morning.

“The province of Ontario needs to be more visible and aggressive in tackling the power rate issue that is threatening the viability of a production facility in northern Ontario because any final decision to locate the ferrochrome production facility outside of the province negatively impacts Aboriginal business in this region.”

Yesno added that because of this issue, many people are now likely starting to understand the energy issues that many remote communities face on a regular basis.

“We can’t develop economically because of the chronic lack of electricity,” Yesno said.