Hydro One project manager Gary Schneider said recent public meetings about a proposed 500 kilovolt power line went very well and the company still plans to start construction early next year.
“We’re still on schedule,” Schneider said in an interview.
He explained the Ontario Energy Board has yet to approve the new line, though an OEB decision is expected in the fall.
He added the environment assessment for the 500 kV line, which will pass directly through Erin and over a corner of Wellington North, should be completed by “late summer” of this year.
And he expects the Ministry of the Environment to make a decision by early 2009, and if the decision is in Hydro One’s favour, the company could start construction “early in the second quarter.”
Building the 180-kilometre line from Hydro One’s Bruce power facility near Kincardine to its switching station in Milton is expected to take three years and cost about $635-million. Two additional units at the Bruce complex, as well as several new wind energy projects coming on line in the near future, necessitated a new line.
Schneider expects the line, which will run alongside an existing 500kV line and require a 53 to 61 metre corridor, to be completed by late 2011.
He interprets lower turnouts during six public meetings last month as an indication that Hydro One is addressing the issues of concern identified by residents during the first round of meetings a year ago.
“I’m not surprised,” he said of the smaller crowds.
In fact, Schneider said not one resident showed up at the June 5 meeting at Centre 2000 in Erin, despite Newspaper advertising and widespread flyer dispersal in advance of the event (Mayor Rod Finnie did attend the meeting to discuss the process).
One of the most vocal persons at the first meeting in Marsville in 2007 was Myrna Donaldson, of the Orton Community Association, who expressed displeasure with the chosen route, which will pass directly over the community’s park.
Schneider said Hydro One has met several times with residents since last year to discuss a mutually agreeable solution.
“Personally, I think it’s going very well,” he said of the discussions with Orton residents, which have included a land swap as one possible solution.
As for the 400 or so private landowners directly affected by the new line – including about 30 to 40 in Erin and Wellington North – Schneider said discussion are ongoing.
In most cases Hydro One is seeking easement rights – placing the line and 49-metre towers on properties and paying landowners for the use of that property.
But in about 30 cases province-wide, including at least one each in both Erin and Wellington North, the proposed line passes over a principal residence or other building.
In such cases Hydro one is offering to buy-out the entire property or move the building to another location.
Schneider said by the end of this year, whether it be easement or ownership, all agreements with landowners should be completed. He added that Hydro one is offering a number of financial incentives for early settlement, which, once taken advantage of, will make compensation greater than fair market value.
“What we’re trying to do is be fair, fast, and avoid the expropriation process,” Schneider said.
Wellington-Halton HIlls MPP Ted Arnott, who has lobbied for improved compensation packages for residents since last year, recently said he is pleased with the compensation now being offered by Hydro One.
Schneider said a big reason why residents are becoming more comfortable with compensation packages is because Hydro One has assigned various “property agents” to help explain the process.
He told the Advertiser Hydro one expects to make formal offers in September, and noted all offers to residents will be based on “third-party accredited appraisers.”
For more information visit www.hydroonenetworks.com rucetomilton.
