The Guelph Civic League strongly supports the Community Energy Initiative (CEI). It is a forward-looking policy that sets a standard for community energy planning across Ontario and beyond by meeting energy needs locally at a lower cost, creating new green jobs, and creating economic benefits for the community.
It appears that the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) and Hydro One are planning to build a new transmission line to supply Guelph with power generated outside of the City. This would likely undermine Guelph’s efforts with the CEI.
The GCL urges Council to ask OPA and Hydro One to fund the nearly 60 megawatts of new small-scale renewable and combined heat and power projects proposed for Guelph instead of building a new transmission line, and possibly a new gas peaker plants in the area.
Guelph residents have shown that they strongly support going beyond standard approaches to resource management, whether it be water or waste. We need OPA and Hydro One to allow the same kind of community resolve when it comes to energy by respecting the CEI. DS