The municipality has joined the growing number of Hastings residents complaining about the frequent power interruptions in the village.
Chief Administrative Officer Karen Frigault told council during last Thursday’s meeting that she has telephoned Hydro One to complain and is trying to arrange a meeting to get some answers. She noted that the provincial company is working across the street from the Hastings Field House.
During the meeting, councillors approved spending $60,000 on a new generator for the field house, which needs electricity 24/7 to keep the roof inflated. The budget for 2027 included $80,000 for a new generator but recent problems led Peter Burnett, Director of Community Services, to seek approval to make the purchase this year.
Recent outages have nearly caused a catastrophic collapse because the existing 11-year-old generator has been slow to kick in.
“The Hastings power grid is unreliable and inconsistent in its power supply,” Burnett’s report said. “At times, it supplies only partial-phase power rather than the three-phase power the facility relies on. When partial phase power is received, the inflation system will not operate and can be damaged, and the generator will not recognize a power outage and will not turn on. …
“Frequent and prolonged power outages in Hastings, coupled with partial phasing issues and the generator’s unreliability, made it essential to replace the generator as soon as possible,” it continued.
As well, a report to council by the water and wastewater department said that equipment in Hastings was recently damaged by a power outage.
“Power outages in Hastings at the end of June caused damage to equipment at the wastewater treatment plant, including aerators, mixers, and electrical controls,” said a report by Kyle Beacock, Manager of Water and Wastewater Services.
Council was told it cost about $1,200 to replace damaged equipment and the bill from the electricians has not been received yet.
On its website, Hydro One makes a 10-day commitment to respond to complaints, so maybe Frigault will get action.
“For all complaints or issues that are escalated to either a supervisor or customer relations, we’ll either resolve your issue, or commit to a firm resolution date, within 10 days of when we first become aware of your complaint.”
FYI, I’ve contacted Hydro One’s media relations department seeking answers on what’s causing the outages and what’s being done about them. I’ll write an update if/when I get information. I’m not holding my breath for 10 days.
On a somewhat related topic, council again supported a proposal by Prodigy Power Inc. to construct a new Hastings Generating Station. Prodigy is seeking approval from the Independent Electricity System Operator, the provincial company that oversees power suppliers, to build a three-megawatt station on the Trent River just east of the dam. Last year it applied to build a two-megawatt station, but it was not selected to go ahead.
Planner Cameron Law told council that the private company was approved to build a generating station on the site in 2015 by the then Liberal government, but the contract was cancelled along with dozens of others when the Ford government came to power and halted all sustainable energy efforts.
If the company is successful this time, there will be public hearings and environment studies, Law said. Power generated from the station would be fed into the provincial grid, but perhaps Hastings could tap into it.
Waiving hospital fees
Council has agreed to waive about $25,000 in planning department fees that Campbellford Memorial Hospital would otherwise face as it develops its new hospital and Campus of Care.
Planner Cameron Law said the exact amount of fees would depend on exactly how the hospital proceeds, but $25,000 would be the upper range for its severance, zoning and official plan amendment requests.
Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalf noted that this request was “relatively minor” compared to the major asks the municipality expects to face for funding the project.
One major cost the municipality will face is extending sewer and water lines to the location. Councillor Dennis Savery said that during the Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting in Ottawa last week provincial representatives said new grant programs will be announced soon that could cover this sort of project.
Frigault said municipal staff are constantly on the lookout for grants and will definitely apply under and new programs.
WSIB motion passes
With little discussion, councillors supported Daniel Giddings’ motion urging the province to step in and push the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) not to kill an 81-year-old program established to encourage employers to hire injured Second World War veterans.
I wrote about Giddings’ efforts here. There has been some limited blowback from companies to the WSIB action, but it is facing much more negative publicity for its decision last week to cut 466 jobs across the province, particularly in Northern Ontario where it is closing several offices.
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