[getsmart-l] East Gwillimbury refuses peaker plant

[Janet May]

http://www.yorkregion.com/article/76860

Yorkregion.com - East Gwillimbury - No peaker plant in East Gwillimbury:
mayor

Patrick Mangion
Published on Jun 19, 2008 

East Gwillimbury will refuse to process applications from developers bidding
to build a peaker plant, Mayor James Young said Monday during a meeting to
discuss the town's position. 

Mayor Young showed a rare irreverence during the meeting, making no
apologies for the town's tough stand.

"I understand everybody has to make a living, but not in our municipality or
at the expense of our people and their health," the mayor said.

"As far as I'm concerned, they're flying on their own."

The Ontario Power Authority issued a terse response to the mayor's position,
stating it is not gambling with future electricity needs and is certainly
not bluffing York Region residents with the threat of hulking transmission
towers if a peaker plant is not built.

The response came following East Gwillimbury's decision Monday to join
Georgina in declaring its community an unwilling host for a controversial
peak-power generation plant.

The less than 10 residents on hand applauded when council voted 5-0 in
favour of the peaker plant rebuke.

It means two of the region's six northern municipalities, declared potential
hosts for a 350-megawatt natural gas peaker plant, have refused to allow it
within their borders.

The power authority has continuously countered a plant must be operating by
2011 to ensure adequate power supply for York's growing communities, said
JoAnne Butler, the power authority's vice-president of electricity
resources.

"If generation doesn't go through, then it has to be transmission," Ms
Butler said.

"We're disappointed in Georgina's and East Gwillimbury's decisions. They
rushed to judgment without giving developers a chance to prove themselves to
the community. We're just starting out," she said.

Councillor Jack Hauseman, however, put the onus back on the province.

"There has been a lack of leadership by the Ontario government, the OPA and
Hydro One," he said.

"We don't want to be forced into (a peaker plant) just because they failed
in their task to provide proper hydro availability to us."

The strongly worded decision by the five-member East Gwillimbury council can
still be overridden by Queen's Park.

However, that didn't stop politicians from heeding the rallying cry of
residents who voiced their displeasure about the power plant at a
well-attended community meeting last week.

After spending months pondering input from the Ontario Power Authority, the
Clean Air Alliance, staff reports and the community, the town felt it was
being backed into a corner.

At the same time, a groundswell of community concern began building,
developers circled the small town, north of Newmarket, with potentially
three potential sites - more than any other northern York Region town.

Holland Landing resident Jane Weir applauded council's decision earlier this
week.

"In a society where we're pushing for green power, we should be looking
forward, not at outdated technology," she said.

With less pollution and land required, an expanded transmission corridor
should have been the first option from the beginning, Queensville resident
Gary Crawford said.

While the town's decision may bring a sense of relief to its residents, it
may be the source of hand-wringing among neighbouring towns.

The authority pursued the peaker plant plan after a proposal to build larger
transmission towers, which would bring more power to the area, was met with
widespread public opposition.

The province has warned if municipalities refuse the plant, it may be forced
to expand the transmission line extending from Vaughan up to Georgina.

For now, the power authority does not intend to hold up plans for a peaker
plant in York Region.

"We aren't forging ahead, saying, 'Damn with the torpedos'. We want to work
with the community," Ms Butler said.

With no sites proposed in Whitchurch-Stouffville or Newmarket, attention
will now turn to King and Aurora councils where politicians have been
pondering a position.

King Township and Aurora have two proposed plant sites.