Transcanada signs deal to build Ontario power plant

The Ontario Power Authority announced Monday it had signed a contract with TransCanadaCorp. to own and operate a gas-fired generating station near Kingston that was originally planned f or Oakville.

The 900-megawatt facility will be located near Ontario Power Generation’s Lennox Generating Station property in Napanee instead of Oakville, a move the Liberal government said would cost taxpayers $40 million.

However, the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats accuse the government of hiding the true cost of cancelling the Oakville power plant and another one in nearby Mississauga.

The opposition parties estimate the combined figure for the two cancelled power plants in Liberal ridings is around $1 billion, not the $230 million the Liberals admit.

The Tories and NDP say they would have found out the real cost if Premier Dalton McGuinty had not prorogued the legislature just hours before public hearings into the failed projects were to begin.

“Independent estimates suggest the cost to cancel and relocate this gas plant ranges anywhere from $800 million to $1.3 billion, the bulk of which will be passed on to Ontario ratepayers,” said PC energy critic Vic Fedeli.

“When I was sitting at committee, I witnessed the Liberals fight tooth and nail to keep the auditor general from looking into the Oakville cancellation. Now we know why.”

The Tories also wanted to know why Ontario was building a new power plant just two kilometres from the “under-utilized” Lennox generating station owned by OPG.

TransCanada said Monday that the new Napanee plant will create about 600 construction jobs as well as long-term employment for about 25 people with $4 million in annual salaries and benefits.

The plant will operate under a 20year power purchase arrangement with the OPA.