Cost of Relocating Oakville Power Plant Much Higher Than Expected

According to the Society of Energy Professionals, the agreement reached between the Ontario Power Authority and TransCanada Energy to relocate a proposed 900-megawatt natural gas plant will me much more than the $40 million figure recently announced.

Rod Sheppard, president of the Society, says that the figure only represents the costs associated with the construction of the plant, and neglects to talk about all the other much larger associated costs.

“I would expect that the lost revenue TransCanada incurred as a result of the plant not being up and running for nearly three years are buried in a contract which we have not and may never see,” says Sheppard.

Sheppard added that it is imperative that taxpayers also be allowed to look at both the original contract signed with TransCanada, and the new contract that had to be put together as a result of moving the plant.

“Transparency in this matter is paramount” Sheppard says. “We should know what rates people will be paying for decades to come as a result of this deal.”

In addition to the cost concerns, Sheppard says that the location of the plant is also problematic.

“The area west of Toronto was in need of a generating plant and that need will remain now that the plant is being relocated in the eastern part of the Province,” says Sheppard. “This decision once again demonstrates that political expediency and not system planning is what drives electricity policy in Ontario.”