THUNDER BAY — During a Monday open house in Thunder Bay, members of the Waasigan Transmission Line project unveiled the preliminary preferred route between Shuniah and Dryden.
The preliminary preferred route will follow the existing transmission line, but the upgrade will provide a new double-circuit 230-kilovolt transmission line from the Lakehead Transformer Station in Shuniah to Atikokan, and a new single-circuit 230-kilovolt transmission line between Atikokan and Dryden.
Daniel Levitan, Hydro One's vice president of stakeholder relations, said the open houses in Thunder Bay, Atikokan, and Dryden provide an opportunity for the public to provide feedback on the project as the Waasigan Transmission Line moves into its next stage.
“We want as much feedback as possible because that gives us the confidence because, in the end, we are going to be a neighbour and we are going to be a member of the community just like any other building or business. We want to be a good neighbour,” Levitan said.
Levitan said it will take some time before the route is completely finalized, but once the line is complete, 350 megawatts of electricity will be added to the region.
However, Levitan said the project is much more than power.
“There’s an opportunity to build that labour market and to procure as much as we can locally. That’s our top priority. We are starting from that perspective and I think as we go down this path we are going to get to a more refined idea as to how many jobs, what types of jobs, and what local supplier we can take advantage — First Nations and non-Indigenous,” Levitan said.
