The president of Thunder Bay Hydro says it's too soon to tell how much the connection of wind mills on the Nor’Wester Mountains might cost local hydro customers.
The Ontario Energy Board has set a limit of $90,000 per megawatt that hydro utilities must contribute to allow green energy projects to connect to the grid.
The proposed project by Horizon Wind is expected to produce 16.5 megawatts of power meaning Thunder Bay Hydro could potentially be on the hook for about $1.5 million in costs. Hydro president Rob Mace said any projections are premature because Horizon Wind has not presented a plan of how and where the windmills would connect to the grid. Mace said it will simply be another cost of doing business.
Horizon Wind officials say they don't expect Thunder Bay Hydro to incur any costs for the power lines within the wind farm. Mace said whoever incurs the costs, it ultimately is passed down to the hydro customer and even if the utility is forced to contribute the maximum under the Energy Board formula, he said it pales in comparison to other costs passed down to ratepayers.
