THUNDER BAY -- City officials hope to have Ontario's Energy Minister join their fight to keep the city’s coal-fired power plant open.
Mayor Keith Hobbs, Westfort Coun. Joe Virdiramo, City Manager Tim Commisso have scheduled a meeting with Energy Minister Chris Bentley for Tuesday about the announcement to halt the conversion of Thunder Bay’s Ontario Power Generation Station to natural gas.
The OPG is considering other re-powering options at the generating station and its other coal-fired plant. In previous interviews OPG officials have stated if the conversion plan was not approved, the plant would have to be shuttered, making it unlikely to operate again in the future.
Hobbs said this fight to keep the plant open is between the city and OPA. Hobbs criticized the OPA for not understanding the issues surrounding the closure or the power requirements investors in the mining sector will need.
“I don’t even think OPA knows where Thunder Bay is and I think they’re right out to lunch,” Hobbs said.
“We’re fighting for our lives here because that generation station is a key piece in our growth of Northwestern Ontario and in particular Thunder Bay. We’re going to send that message loud and clear to the minister.”
Hobbs said he’s recently spoke with investors and they need to be reassured that their power needs will be met if they decide to invest in the North. He said he plans to let the president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association handle the technical data when they speak with Bentley and added they have the support of the city’s two MPPs.
Virdiramo, who is also the chair of the Intergovernmental Liaison Committee, said he’s optimistic that they can get Bentley to see their point of view and keep the plant open.
“We want to make the minister aware that the plant needs to stay open in relation to the future development of Thunder Bay and the whole mining issue,” he said.
“We want to make certain that he has all the information that is correct. We just want to impress on them that Thunder Bay needs that plant. We do not want to lose the plant or the jobs that go with it. We need the power and the pipeline that they are talking about regarding the east-west pipeline is not ready to be built.”
He said they are crunching the numbers on why they need the plant. OPA suggested that the city could get power from Manitoba or Minnesota should the need ever arise.
But Joe said they have a plant and it makes sense to convert it to natural gas and utilize it instead of relying on others for power.
