Good post. To the competing electrical transmission from OPA, I go back a bit to a previous post. The map provides a quick study.

Draft Technical Report and Business Case for the Connection of Remote First Nation Communities in Northwest Ontario for Northwest Ontario First Nation Transmission Planning Committee August 21, 2014

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6.5 Ring of Fire Subsystem

6.5.1 Overview

Four potential configurations have been identified for the subsystem of five communities in the area of the Ring of Fire based on whether or not a new line from Pickle Lake will be built to supply potential mining developments at the Ring of Fire. The first case includes connection of the five communities at Pickle Lake via a new 115 kV line. This case assumes that the Ring of Fire does not connect to the transmission system. The remaining three cases assume the Ring of Fire does connect to the transmission system and that transmission lines will be shared by the five communities and the Ring of Fire proponents.

The second case includes a new 115 kV line from Pickle Lake, the third case includes a new 230 kV line from Pickle Lake, and the fourth case includes a new 230 kV line from the Nipigon / Marathon area.

In this study, it is assumed that proponents pay for transmission and distribution facilities in proportion to the peak electrical demand they place on those facilities. Given this, sharing a 115 kV line with the Ring of Fire proponents would result in lower costs for the remote communities than a 115 kV line dedicated only to the communities. It is important to recognize, however, that this potential for cost sharing is dependent on degree of load growth at the Ring of Fire, the desire for mining customers to connect to the transmission system, and the Ring of Fire mines paying their share of project capital costs as prescribed by the Transmission and Distribution Codes issued by the OEB. For scenarios where there is higher load at Ring of Fire (scenarios three and four) a lower cost would result for the remote communities.

The OPA has identified the potential for 22 – 71 MW of industrial load at the Ring of Fire to develop after 2017. Analysis shows that to serve this load from Pickle Lake, 230 kV supply at Pickle Lake would be required and that a single 115 kV line from Pickle Lake to the Ring of Fire could supply the needs of the five remote communities and up to about 40 MW of load at the Ring of Fire. Supply beyond these levels will require that the line to Ring of Fire

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and the communities be built to 230 kV standards or a second 115 kV line be built from Pickle Lake to the Ring of Fire.

As discussed above, 230 kV supply at Pickle Lake is required to supply the Ring of Fire from Pickle Lake. This line will be sufficient to serve the entire Pickle Lake area load including the 10 remote communities north of Pickle Lake, the five communities in the area of the Ring of Fire and the maximum expected electrical demand at the Ring of Fire within the planning period. Red Lake area growth including connection of the 6 remote communities north of Red Lake can be served by upgrading the existing lines between Dryden and Red Lake (E4D and E2R) and / or by the new line to Pickle Lake.

The new line to Pickle Lake can create some capacity in the Red Lake area (when E1C, the line between Ear Falls and Pickle Lake becomes supplied by the new line to Pickle Lake). The availability of capacity in the Red Lake area following the installation of the new line to Pickle Lake will depend on timing of applications from customers in the Red Lake area.

The OPA's load forecast for the remote communities in the Ring of Fire area is about 7 MW by 2034. The forecast for Ring of Fire anticipates about 22 MW by 2020, with the potential to grow to about 71 MW within the planning period. The current mine development timelines suggest that a transmission line to the Ring of Fire could be required as early as 2017, which would require co-development of this facility with the new 230 kV line planned to Pickle Lake. For the connection scenarios presented below, there are assumed cost sharing ratios, depending on the expected electricity demand at the Ring of Fire mines. The cost sharing ratios are applied to all capital and O&M costs that are shared by the communities and the mines.

6.5.2 115 kV Supply to Remote Communities from Pickle Lake

This transmission supply option for the five communities in the Ring of Fire area assumes that the Ring of Fire is not connecting to the transmission system. This option consists of a new 210 km; single-circuit 115 kV transmission line would be built from Pickle Lake to the Webequie area.

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6.5.3 115 kV Supply to Remote Communities and Ring of Fire from Pickle Lake

To supply industrial customers at the Ring of Fire as well as Eabametoong First Nation, Neskantaga First Nation, Nibinamik First Nation, Marten Falls First Nation, and Webequie First Nation a new 290 km, single-circuit 115 kV transmission line would be built from Pickle Lake to the McFaulds Lake area. Routing would be optimized to minimize the connection costs for these First Nation communities, while also following a potential transportation corridor currently being planned from the McFaulds Lake area to Pickle Lake via Webequie.

There are both cost and line performance synergies created by connecting these communities to a line supplying the Ring of Fire.
A cost sharing arrangement based on proportional use (peak demand over the next 20 years) would suggest that approximately 25 percent of the cost of the line (based on 7.5 MW of load) could be allocated for remote community connections, while the mining customers at the Ring of Fire are assumed to contribute approximately 75 percent. The remote connection plan would also be responsible for the cost of the connection facilities (transformer stations, distribution lines, and distribution stations), which are required to connect the five communities to the transmission line.

6.5.4 230 kV Supply to Remote Communities and Ring of Fire from Pickle Lake

To supply industrial customers at the Ring of Fire as well as Eabametoong First Nation, Neskantaga First Nation, Nibinamik First Nation, Marten Falls First Nation, and Webequie First Nation a new 350 km, single-circuit 230 kV transmission line would be built from Pickle Lake to the McFaulds Lake area. Routing would be optimized to minimize the connection costs for these communities, while also following a potential transportation corridor currently being planned from the McFaulds Lake area to Pickle Lake via Webequie. There are both cost and line performance synergies created by connecting these communities to a line supplying the Ring of Fire. This supply option assumes that the demand at the Ring of Fire would reach 71 MW by 2034.

A cost sharing arrangement based on proportional use (in the long term) would suggest that approximately 10 percent of the cost of the line (based on 7.5 MW of load) could be

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allocated for the remote community connections, while the mining customers at the Ring of Fire are assumed to contribute approximately 90 percent. The remote connection plan would also be responsible for the cost of the connection facilities (transformer stations, distribution lines, and distribution stations) where required to connect the five communities
to the transmission line.

6.5.5 230 kV Supply to Remote Communities and Ring of Fire from the Nipigon / 7 Marathon Area

To supply industrial customers at the Ring of Fire as well as Eabametoong First Nation, Neskantaga First Nation, Nibinamik First Nation, Marten Falls First Nation, and Webequie First Nation a new 550 km, single-circuit 230 kV transmission line would be built from the Nipigon / Marathon area to the McFaulds Lake area. Routing would be optimized to minimize the connection costs for these First Nations, while also following a potential transportation corridor currently being planned from the McFaulds Lake area to Pickle Lake via Webequie. There are both cost and line performance synergies created by connecting these communities to a line supplying the Ring of Fire. This supply option assumes that the demand at the Ring of Fire would reach 71 MW by 2034.

A cost sharing arrangement based on proportional use (in the long term) would suggest that approximately 10 percent of the cost of the line (based on 7 MW of load) could be allocated for the remote community connections, while the mining customers at the Ring of Fire are assumed to contribute approximately 90 percent. The remote connection plan would also be responsible for the cost of the connection facilities (transformer stations, distribution lines, and distribution stations) where required to connect the five communities to the transmission line.

An illustrative diagram of the supply options for the Ring of Fire subsystem can be found in Figure 20 below. The purple line that runs from Pickle Lake could be built at either 115 kV or 230 kV. Alternatively, the blue line would connect the communities and the mines via 230 kV transmission line from the Nipigon / Marathon area.

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Table 22 below summarizes the line distances and costs for each of the line projects under all potential connection configurations of the Ring of Fire subsystem of communities. As noted elsewhere, each of these scenarios is dependent on upgrades to the existing system in the Red Lake and Pickle Lake areas.



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Table 22: Summary of Remote Community Connection Lines

7.0 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

It is important to note that the OPA’s work on remote connections is a result of a close working relationship with the Committee. Additionally, since the release of a draft version of the Remote Community Connection Plan in summer 2012, the OPA has engaged with many of the remote communities to provide information on the analysis and conclusions in the Plan. The OPA’s engagement has varied by community and has included: meetings with Chiefs and Councils, meetings with community members, as well as the providing of

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information through local radio and television broadcasts. Engagement with community members has often also included the presence of a translator from the community. To date the OPA has engaged with 17 of the communities included in the Plan and overall there has been strong support expressed given the benefits which can be realized. Key concerns raised during engagement included the potential for local renewable energy projects, the impact of transmission lines on the environment, and local job opportunities, among other things. The communities that OPA has engaged with to date are:

1. Bearskin Lake
2. Fort Severn
3. Kasabonika Lake
4. Keewaywin
5. Kingfisher Lake
6. Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug
7. Muskrat Dam
8. North Caribou Lake
9. North Spirit Lake
10.Poplar Hill
11.Sachigo Lake
12.Sandy Lake
13.Wapekeka
14.Wawakapewin
15.Weenusk (Peawanuck)
16.Whitesand
17.Wunnumin Lake

The communities that still need to be engaged are:

1. Deer Lake
2. Eabametoong
3. Kiaashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay)

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4. Marten Falls
5. Neskantaga
6. Nibinamik
7. Pikangikum
8. Webequie

This Plan will be finalized only following engagement with all 25 communities.

8.0 DEVELOPMENT WORK REQUIRED AND TIMELINES

The following tasks will be necessary to develop the lines in this Plan:

• Negotiation of a cost- and risk-sharing agreement between the various benefitting
• parties;
• Identification of a transmitter for project development;
• Detailed technical system studies, such as a System Impact Assessment by the
• IESO, and a Customer Impact Assessment by the Transmitter;
• Route and site identification and assessment;
• Preliminary engineering;
• Preparation and submission of EA Terms of Reference;
• EA studies and field work, EA approval; and
• Preparation and submission of Leave to Construct application.

Delays in commencing and / or completing any of the tasks will lead to delays in the timing of some or all of the communities being connected. An additional factor not discussed in detail in this Plan is the process and framework for arranging financing for these projects.

Substantial near term investment will be required in order to realize the long-term benefits of reducing diesel use for electricity generation. To ensure successful project implementation, these investments should be made by the parties that stand to benefit, and should reflect the expected changes in those benefits over time. As discussed in Chapter 2, in order to implement a plan for transmission connection, the federal government, the province (representing both the rate base and tax base), the remote communities included

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in this Plan for connection and any participating industrial customers will need to come to agreement on the extent of costs to be shared and the allocation of those costs among them.

The Far North Act, being implemented by Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, requires that all communities conduct land use planning prior to commencing the development of new transmission facilities; thus, the development timelines identified in this Plan to connect remote communities may be affected by the progress communities make in completing their land use plans.