The Ontario Power Authority is looking to get 21 remote First Nations off diesel in the next seven to 10 years.
The OPA has released a draft technical report and business plan for new transmission lines in the Far North.
OPA planning analyst Stephanie Aldersley says connecting them to the grid will save an estimated $1 billion in diesel costs over 40 years. The plan includes About 1,300 kilometres of new transmission lines, another 1,300 kilometres of distribution lines, 12 new transformer stations and 26 distribution stations.
The total price tag is estimated at about $1.3-billion dollars.
A First Nation power company has already submitted a proposal encompassing much of this plan.
Aldersley says the OPA supports those efforts, and they produced this draft report to help move the process along.
The OPA has come up with three possible transmission routes to the Ring of Fire, but Aldersley says the plan is not contingent on the mining development moving ahead.
She adds that the OPA also looked at renewable resources like wind and solar power, but it was determined that new transmission lines were the better option.
(TBT News)
