Hydro One officials say community feedback will be critical in selecting the final route for a new power line.
RED LAKE — Residents impacted by the new transmission line between Dryden and Red Lake can voice their opinions at upcoming open houses.
The 162-kilometre Red Lake Transmission Line will help power growth in the mining industry, with 41 potential new mines expected to be in operation by 2033.
“It's a double circuit 230-kilovolt line that is starting from our Dryden transformer station, heading north up towards Ear Falls, and then continuing onto (the) Red Lake station itself,” said Sonny Karunakaran, vice president of strategic projects and partnerships at Hydro One.
The Red Lake transmission line is still in the early stages of the project life cycle, with the notice of commencement for the class environmental assessment starting, he said.
“We've done some elements of constraint mapping and come up with some route alternatives. That's what's going to be presented to everybody at this set of community open houses,” he said.
The transmission line open houses are in Ear Falls on Sept. 22, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion No. 283 on 40 John St., in Red Lake on Sept. 23 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Red Lake Community Centre on 10 Hammell Rd., and in Dryden on Sept. 24 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion No. 63 on 34 Queen St.
“What the public can really expect is to come out and actually understand a little bit more about the project, where we are in the project life cycle, what some of the near, medium . . . and longer-term steps in the actual overall delivery process will be,” he said.
Learning about the communities being affected is critical, he said.
“It's an opportunity to meet with members of the local community and to learn things about the local area,” he said.
“We have a lot of knowledge around the technical aspects of what it takes to build a power system, but how we go about doing it is just as important.”
Once the open houses are completed, Hydro One will take the information back with them, he said.
“We'll receive some feedback, we'll do a bunch of in-field environmental studies, and then based on certain information that we're able to ascertain over the coming months, around the spring of next year, we would be in a position to select the preferred route and explain the rationale behind how we arrived at that decision,” he said.
Next, Hydro One will continue further development activities, more infill studies, continue with design and apply for regulatory approvals, he said.
“By the end of 2027, we hope to be in a position where we would have filed and completed our environmental assessment, and then we move on to doing our Leave to Construct with the Ontario Energy Board, so that construction can commence the following year,” he said.
