Brighter days may be ahead for solar farm project

PUSLINCH – Gyongyi Dorgo and Michael Hryschenko have not given up on their proposal to install a solar farm in the township.

But time is running out for Dorgo, the landowner, and Hryschenko, her expert advisor, who will need their application ready to submit to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) when it puts out a call for applications in 2027.

To be considered, the proponents need a letter of support from the township, and they delegated to council on Oct. 7 to explain the project, the IESO process and their timelines, which are tight.

They’ve been to council before. In September 2025 they delegated to council seeking a letter of support. At that time council rejected sending the letter as the IESO process doesn’t follow normal planning procedures.

Dorgo said the IESO won’t consider applications that don’t come with a letter from the municipality, but they will accept conditional ones.

She said the letter should say the municipality is aware of the application, the proposed location is not on prime agricultural land and neighbours have been consulted.

“The main thing is for them (IESO) to know the municipality is engaged,” Hryschenko said.

Dorgo said with the letter, she can apply for the tender when it’s issued by the IESO.

Then, if the project is approved by the IESO, they would begin the planning process with the township, which could take two years. Solar farms currently aren’t a permitted use so zoning and official plan amendments would have to happen as well as community consultation.

The best-case scenario is construction beginning in 2029 and completed by 2030.

The project proposes a solar farm on Dorgo’s property that would generate seven megawatts of energy and feed it into Ontario Hydro infrastructure.

Dorgo said they have hired a planning consultant; they’ve confirmed a point of contact for Hydro One; and have consulted with Indigenous and Grand River Conservation Area officials as well as immediate neighbours of the solar farm.

So far there have been no objections, she said.

There’s considerable up-front cost in getting to the application stage, she added – a $17,500 fee just to hand in the application along with a range of studies that must be done. They could cost between $200,000 and $500,000. So getting the letter of support would bring them closer to a satisfactory end.

Council, while generally supportive of the project in theory, noted it’s not easy to write a letter of support when the township has no policy or guiding procedure on these types of applications.

CAO Courtenay Hoytfox said it’s not in the staff workplan for 2026 to develop protocols. It would also take staff time, and perhaps consultants, to go over the solar farm plan and its studies to ensure proper consultation had taken place. So there’s a cost component to the letter as well, she said.

In the end council passed a resolution to:

• issue a letter acknowledging they’ve been informed of the solar farm project (but stopped short of a letter of support);
• write to Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Joseph Racinsky letting him know that the IESO rules are counter to how municipalities process planning applications; and
• direct staff to develop a protocol for processing IESO projects with appropriate community engagement in the first quarter of 2027.