Fergus and Elora have had their own hydro providers for decades – but what about the growth areas in between the two centres?
Ontario Hydro (now Hydro One Networks Inc.) serviced rural areas of Wellington County, but county council is recognizing Fergus and Elora are growing together in the part of old Nichol township that includes Wellington Place in Aboyne.
On May 26, county council approved a report by engineer Dale Murray that appears to favour Centre Wellington Hydro (CWH) taking over the supply of power to Wellington Place.
Triton Engineering submitted a committee report for hydro servicing for currently undeveloped lands at the property. Those lands include the site of a new hospital for Centre Wellington.
Murray, wrote, “The undeveloped portions of the county lands (formerly the Trask land) are not currently serviced by an electricity distributor, although Hydro One Networks Inc. would be considered the incumbent distributor under the Ontario electricity rules. Hydro One has distribution assets that are adjacent to the former Trask lands, including the servicing of the OPP detachment, the museum and archives, county library, and Wellington Terrace.”
He said the review shows two possible utility providers exist for the servicing of the balance of the county lands, including the new hospital site, and one of them is CWH.
Murray concluded, “Given the timing of the new hospital and the potential for considerable cost savings to the county by receiving competitive bids, we would recommend that the county request an offer to connect from both utilities.”
He reported to council’s information, seniors and heritage committee it is his understanding that in order for CWH to service the subject area, the utility must submit “a service area amendment application to the Ontario Energy Board.”
That would request the board to amend CWH’s licence service boundaries to include the subject area.
Murray said once that application is submitted, it could take nearly five months, and Hydro One and CWH would “both submit information supporting their desire to service the subject area and all associated costs.”
He added, “Following this process, if the county continues to prefer that CWH service the subject area, the [energy board] will make a decision in CWH’s favour if it can determine that CWH’s proposal to connect the subject area is better or comparable than Hydro One’s in terms of economic and engineering efficiency.”
He added, “It is our hope that the [board] would rule that the county be permitted to choose CWH as their distributor based on the above criteria and costing comparisons. From our discussions with CWH, we are confident that their connection proposal will be better or comparable to Hydro One’s, and we are therefore hopeful that the [board] will grant the boundary expansion to CWH.”
Murray explained the county’s role is limited to two steps.
The first is to request an offer to connect from Hydro One, which “must be afforded the opportunity to province an offer to connect in order to compare costing and design with CWH.”
He said Hydro One is obliged to present a preliminary offer within 60 calendar days. The second step is to issue a letter of support for Centre Wellington Hydro.
“The support of the developer is critical in the success of a boundary expansion,” Murray wrote.
“Accordingly, once offers to connect are received from both distributors and it can be confirmed that CWH remains the preferred supplier, the County of Wellington will need to prepare a simple letter stating that they are in favour of CWH servicing the subject area.” Murray explained his recommendation.
“The cost and savings in time (in spite of the 22-week amendment process) could be considerable.”
Council unanimously approved the report to favour Centre Wellington Hydro.
