OCC letter to Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith
Main street, Meaford, Ontario.
Letter to Hon. Todd Smith, Ontario Minister of Energy, Energy Supply Policy Division
RE: The Ontario Pumped Storage Project
Dear Minister Smith,
For more than a century, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has supported economic growth by
advocating for business priorities on behalf of our 60,000 members, including local chambers of
commerce and boards of trade in over 157 communities.
Ontario is entering a period of widening electricity shortfalls. Having a plan to address those shortfalls is
essential to ensure businesses can continue investing and growing in Ontario with confidence.
As part of that plan, Ontario needs a diversified mix of reliable, clean, and cost-effective energy
resources (including both generation and conservation).
The Ontario Pumped Storage Project in Meaford can be one piece of this strategy. Given its ability to
absorb 1,000 MW of electricity when available – and deliver up to 1,000 MW of power when needed –
the Ontario Pumped Storage project is a unique long-duration storage asset that is well positioned to
support the province's growing manufacturing and industrial sectors.
TC Energy has been conducting on-site environmental field work, while working closely with
Indigenous groups and stakeholders in the community, to address outstanding concerns. In February,
the Meaford Municipal passed a resolution of conditional support for the project. As a next step, TC
Energy will be working with the municipality to develop a Community Benefit Agreement, and
continuing discussions with your ministry to move the project to the next phase.
The OCC looks forward to seeing progress on this clean energy project as part of our collective effort to
ensure Ontario continues to benefit from a clean, reliable, and affordability energy system for
generations to come.
Sincerely,
Rocco Rossi
President and CEO
Ontario Chamber of Commerce
View letter at OCC.ca.