Gas power plant planned for Mississauga
George Smitherman, who took over the energy portfolio in a cabinet shuffle last month, will direct the Ontario Power Authority to line up a natural gas supply for a new plant and announce a process for deciding where it will go.
"It means a new plant," said a source close to the announcement, which will be made near the site of the old coal-fired Lakeview Generating Station demolished last year.
The 800-member Lakeview Ratepayers Association has fought against putting another power plant at the Lakeview site, still owned by Ontario Power Generation.
Mississauga City Council voted unanimously in February to approve a citizen-driven plan to build a $2 billion waterfront community on 200 hectares around the site.
The province "took so long to make up their minds we decided we weren't going to wait any longer," said Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion.
Crown-owned Ontario Power Generation has been lobbying to build a natural gas-fired power plant at Lakeview, saying it will be much cleaner and smaller than the old plant.
Related News
First US coal plant in years opens where no options exist
WASHINGTON - One way to boost coal in the US: Find a spot near a mine with no access to oil or natural gas pipelines, where it’s not particularly windy and it’s dark much of the year.
That’s how the first coal-fired plant to open in the U.S. since 2015 bucked the trend in an industry that’s seen scores of facilities close in recent years. A 17-megawatt generator, built for $245 million, is set to open in April at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, just 100 miles from the state’s only coal mine.
“Geography really drove what options are available to us,”…
