Great news for the future of hydro reliability in Kingsville! The E.L.K. Energy board has approved the next steps toward securing a secondary feed. Hydro One has confirmed the available capacity and has formally accepted the application for the second feed. Located near the Freshco plaza, this new feed will significantly enhance the E.L.K. Energy infrastructure. Once completed, it will allow for faster power restoration during outages and improve the overall reliability of hydro service. I’ve been working on our energy reliability issue for several years and am incredibly proud of the work done by this term’s E.L.K. Energy board and staff. Below is the history, in reverse chronological order, of this file’s progress.
We’ve just passed the two-year milestone of this council term and my time on the E.L.K. Energy board. Along with enhancing investments in the system to boost reliability, increasing maintenance and inspections of poles, and implementing tree-trimming efforts, the E.L.K. Energy board has taken steps to improve transparency and accountability to our customers. This includes providing regular updates on social media and posting board meeting minutes on our website—new initiatives for this term.
There have been zoom meetings and phone calls throughout 2024. And in September, 2024, E.L.K Energy provided an update to the Town of Kingsville:
At our October 23, 2023 regular meeting, I sought council’s support to request IESO approval of a second feeder line for Kingsville and Cottam.
In October 2023, E.L.K. Chair, Sherry Bondy, and I appeared on That Kingsville Podcast in their episode titled ELK discussions with Sherry Bondy Essex chair for the ELK board, and Kim DeYong, ELK board member to share what we had learned during our first year. A week later E.L.K. Energy conducted an Open House in Kingsville, providing an update on planned investments.
At our September 11, 2023 regular meeting, I made a motion to request Hydro One come to the council table to discuss capacity and reliability concerns. At our December 11, 2023 meeting, Hydro One came and gave an update on their investments in our region. We learned that both E.L.K. and Hydro One customers can be serviced from the same single feeder; that 4 new transfer stations were planned for the region and that new feeders will originate from these and expand into Kingsville to offset the current load on the Kingsville transfer station. We also learned that the loss of supply from Hydro One to E.L.K. had increased in 2023 and that our growth projections were integrated into their load projections for the 2023 Windsor Essex Regional Planning cycle. Hydro One also shared information about the role of the IESO in determining the type of systems we have to service our area. Lastly, we learned that the next Regional Planning Session was planned for June 2024.
My update in August 2023 includes additional background and earlier progress of the ongoing efforts and my work on this file : 8 Months on the E.L.K. Board.
Kimberly DeYong 