Hydro One has taken the next step toward construction of the $1.2 billion dollar Waasigan Transmission Line between Thunder Bay, Atikokan and Dryden.
The company has now filed an application to the Ontario Energy Board to build the 230-kilovolt line and put the section between the city and Atikokan into service as close to the end of 2025 as possible.
The part between Atikokan and Dryden would be in service by the end of 2027.
Hydro One's partners in the project include Fort William First Nation, Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation, Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, Eagle Lake First Nation, Lac La Croix First Nation, Seine River First Nation, Lac Seul First Nation, Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation and the Ojibway Nation of Saugeen.
The application to the energy board to commence construction includes details of the project such as timing, route, design and cost.
Hydro One said it is still working to incorporate "all the feedback" it received during its draft Environmental Assessment Report review period into a report that will be submitted to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for final review and a decision next year.
In an announcement Monday, it quoted Kenora-Rainy River MPP and Minister of Northern Development/Indigenous Affairs Greg Rickford, Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland, Ontario Mining Association president Chris Hodgson, and Iain Angus – chair of the Common Voice Northwest Energy Task Force – as endorsing the project because it will boost economic development across the region.
"Particularly as a result of the unprecedented development of new mines, more reliable electricity is needed to fuel the economy of the Northwest, and the Waasigan Transmission Line will do just that," Angus stated.
But a group of property-owners in the Kaministiquia area continues its vigorous opposition to the Waasigan Transmission Line's route near their homes.
Neighbours on the Line spokesperson Michelle Hamer told TBnewswatch said 30 property-owners have not given consent to the use of their land, and that Hydro One will be required to apply for expropriation.
"It will come out during that expropriation process that the evaluation – the draft EA – has not been complete from the beginning because our water table is not even included."
Hamer also maintained that "we have not been involved in the process, as we are supposed to be, since 2019, so the EA and the route evaluation is invalid. And we will be pushing that through the court process where they will have to answer to that."
Neighbours on the Line has also asked the provincial ombudsman's office to reach out to the Ontario Energy Board on the group's behalf.
"The ombudsman's office is going to be requesting an appropriate response from the OEB because we did not get one," Hamer said.
Hydro One said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that it "remains committed to working with residents and landowners in a meaningful way to address concerns raised so that we can work towards building a line that community members and property owners can see their feedback reflected in."
NOTE: An earlier version of this story has been updated to include a statement issued Tuesday afternoon by Hydro One
