Shuniah won’t back gas plant
By: Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Source: The Chronicle-Journal
A proposal to build a gas-powered peak-power plant in Shuniah has failed to garner support from the municipality’s council.
At Tuesday’s meeting, council voted to not support the Current H2 project, which has proposed to build a $400-million peaker plant north of Highway 11-17.
Council agreed with a municipal management report that maintained there hadn’t been enough time “to complete the recommended technical, legal, planning, and emergency-management review necessary for such a decision.”
Current H2 has said the plant could be converted to burn hydrogen, a cleaner fuel, but has not said specifically when that would happen. Peaker plants are designed to operate during periods when demand for electricity is high.
The company was seeking council’s support for its application to the Ontario Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO). The deadline for the application is Dec. 18.
According to Shuniah’s management report, the IESO “recognizes that municipalities must be satisfied with the completeness of information before issuing” support by way of a municipal support confirmation.
“Given the breadth and complexity of the proposals received, administration has not had sufficient time to conduct the necessary reviews or to complete a substantive validation of public engagement outcomes,” the report said.
Shuniah Mayor Wendy Landry, who is an IESO board member, recused herself and did not participate in Tuesday’s vote.
The vote result pleased opponents of the Current H2 project, which they contended was wrong-headed during an era of climate change.
“Building fossil-fuel burning infrastructure in a climate emergency is madness,” said Thunder Bay-based Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet.
Paul Berger, the group’s spokesman, said he hoped the vote in Shuniah would cause Thunder Bay city council to take a dim view of a separate proposal by Versorium Energy to build a gas peaker-plant in the city.
City council is to re-visit Versorium’s proposal on Dec. 2.
Meanwhile, Shuniah’s council is expected to consider a separate project from PowerBank Corp. for a $200-million battery storage peaker-plant facility.
Those opposed to that project say it shouldn’t be built on Mount Baldy Road as was originally planned because doing so would be too close to residential homes and a ski resort, should it ever catch fire.
PowerBank is also seeking municipal support from Shuniah’s council for its project before it applies to the Independent Electricity System Operator.
