Cost of relocating Oakville power plant will be much more than $40 million

TORONTO, Sept. 24, 2012 /CNW/ - The Society of Energy Professionals says that the agreement reached between the Ontario Power Authority and TransCanada Energy to relocate the proposed 900-megawatt natural gas plant originally planned for Oakville to lands at Ontario Power Generation's Lennox Generating Station site near Bath, in eastern Ontario's Lennox and Addington County will cost taxpayers much more than $40 million.

Rod Sheppard Society President says that the $40 million figure represents only 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" Sheppard says.

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 which 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" Sheppard says. "This decision once again demonstrates that political expediency and not system planning is what drives electricity policy in Ontario."

The Society of Energy Professionals represent more than 8300 engineers, telecommunications and information technology professionals, scientists and others who for generations have designed, built, operated and helped safeguard Ontario's vast electricity system. The Society's members work for Ontario Power Generation, Hydro One, Bruce Power, the IESO, the OEB, the ESA and other key electricity sector employers.

SOURCE: The Society of Energy Professionals

Bob Kanduth
Communications Officer
416.979.2709 x 4002 Cell 647.404.8918
or
Rod Sheppard
President
416.979.2709 x 3039 Cell 416.670.6835