1. Presentation to the Ontario Energy Board East – West Tie Line Proposals OEB File No. EB-2011-0140

2. Who is the Algoma Coalition As name implies all members are from the Algoma District with one from the Thunder Bay District For purposes of the East-West Tie Line and recognizing opportunities members of the Northeastern Superior Mayors Group joined the AC being: The Townships of Manitouwadge, White River, Chapleau and Hornepayne (Township of Dubreuilville & Municipality of Wawa were already members) The Algoma Coalition - East-West Tie Line

3. History Coalition formed in the 2002 timeframe and in reaction to the re-regulation of the electricity market which led to crippling electrical rates (commodity & distribution) in the region Made appearances at the OEB regarding rate applications (GLP & Algoma Power) Led to RRP, community based meetings and other consultations Led to greater awareness regarding electrical costs

4. Oral Hearing E-W Tie Line In May 2012 strongly opposed written hearing in Toronto Relationship to the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Most significant infrastructure project in N. Ontario in decades ($0.5 billion) We are pleased that the Board has provided this opportunity

5. Project Support We generally support the project Necessary and prudent for N. Ontario and the Province Our approach is not technical but rather holistic as it relates to the planning perspective In regards to the impact and opportunities that the project could and should bring to our member municipalities and others in N. Ontario

6. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Established pursuant to Places to Grow Act, 2005 Must be considered in designating a transmitter and proceeding with both phases of the decision making process Section 1.2 of the Plan sets out its purpose being to engage and empower residents businesses, institutions and communities to work together to build a stronger Northern Ontario and recognizes that to achieve these long term goals strategic coordination partnerships and collaboration are essential

7. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Generally support the project but our opinion is that the project has miserably failed the Plan No municipal collaboration No municipal partnerships Absolutely no municipal engagement or consultation The lack of collaboration and consultation with municipalities and residents is the direct responsibility of the Province of Ontario and the proponents We do give credit to the process for its extensive collaboration and consultation with the First Nation and Metis

8. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Fact Municipalities in Northern Ontario have considerable resources to offer proponents (financial and otherwise) Significant interest in ensuring success, long term viability and local access to this major infrastructure project

9. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 1.4 – Guiding Principles Guiding principles 1, 4, 5 & 6 have been largely ignored as they relate to this project due to a complete lack of consultation and engagement at the municipal level

10. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 1.7 – A Collaborative Approach to Implementation Encourages collaboration among levels of Government and among non-governmental partners Regrettable that this process has not taken this section seriously; if it had, opportunities for collaboration would have been executed This omission should be rectified prior to continuation of process and certainly prior to selection of a transmitter This should be a weighted decision criteria

11. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 2 – Economy Preamble states the plan is to support growth & diversify the region’s traditional resource based economy To comply the project must include opportunities for local use of proposed infrastructure Traditional and emerging markets in bio & green economy need ability to import and export power to be successful

12. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 2.2 – An Economic Action Plan for Northern Ontario “The Province will collaborate with the Federal government as well as business and industry, municipalities, Aboriginal communities and organizations” Unfortunately there has been no collaboration but such collaboration should be encouraged and ingrained in the result of these hearings

13. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 discuss existing and emerging economic development strategies The strategies are dependent on collaboration mentioned in 2.2 which have never occurred at the municipal level Section 2.2.5 states “Industry will be encouraged to participate in the development and implementation of the Province’s five-year economic plans” What is the Province’s plan? No regional economic plans published Therefore not known if they have ever been considered Yet the NESMG has been working on economic matters for 12 years and they were overlooked

14. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 2.3 – A Growing and Diversified Economy Section generally discusses the importance of a growing and diversified economy for N. Ontario Facilitation herein will require ability of importing and exporting of power on a local level Important to prevent disenfranchising of smaller communities from such development thereby not providing an unfair advantage to larger communities Access for traditional sectors (mining & forestry) but also for opportunities in emerging sectors of renewable energy and technologies

15. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 3 – People No information on how the people of the area can be trained, educated and used for the project Should the necessary resources not be developed in the area through partnership with educational institutions in order to ensure a skilled and innovative population? AC notes that two of three proponents have facilities in N. Ontario showing that such facilities are feasible Our feeling that proponent should be required to detail a facility in N. Ontario and that this be a weighted decision criteria

16. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 4 – Communities Discusses economic and service hubs Although not named, it is clear that Wawa is one such hub Goes on to state “They are also points of convergence for major infrastructure including transportation, energy, information and communications technology and community infrastructure”

17. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 4.2 – Long Range Planning Discusses need for long-range planning and collaboration among communities Proponents should be consulting with communities in the subject area so they understand what planning is going on in the subject area Will ensure vital access points enabling local business to facilitate the growth plan and take advantage of opportunities rather than a continuation of marginalization that has retarded and frustrated growth

18. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 4.3 – Economic and Service Hubs Such hubs were to be identified through implementation of the plan Not done to date yet such hubs are known and should be used Section 4.3.4 quotes “Economic and service hubs shall be focal areas for investment in regional transportation, energy information and communications technology and community infrastructure”

19. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 5 – Infrastructure Section discusses energy generation and transmission infrastructure in Northern Ontario as being key to the growing economy and that such investments should be coordinated with collaboration and discussion with various level of government “This Plan provides a vehicle for aligning and coordinating infrastructure investments to support its economic development priorities and to meet the needs of existing and future residents. This requires working closely with partners including the federal government and municipalities”

20. Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Section 8 – Implementation Implementation is to ensure that the population is engaged and informed and that their views shall be sought out and that methods such as regional meetings shall be used for this purpose All too obvious that this was absent from this project and should be required of proponents prior to designating a transmitter Requires coordinated & collaborative decision making which is absent from the proposals The results of this collaboration should be a weighted Decision Criteria

21. Designation Criteria In light of the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario we respectfully request That the OEB, in this designation process, consider the socioeconomic benefit for communities on and served by this East West Tie line corridor as a major decision criteria The OEB consider and prefer proponents who will use local labour and supplies both in construction and operation of the project – compliance with Northern Growth Plan The OEB consider and prefer proponents who will consider financial partnerships with municipalities Proponents should be required to have a consultation plan with municipalities located throughout the routing area of the project That resources for the long term maintenance of the asset be located through the routing area of the project

22. Designation Criteria These requests cannot wait until the construction of the project Needs to be done during the designation process Proponents need to be prepared to address these matters to the best of their ability

23. Weighted Designation Criteria Weighting designation criteria has been mentioned herein Weighting the criteria will benefit the process by allowing applicants to focus on the matters most important to the OEB Such criteria should be clear and weighted so there is a clear understanding by all Again a socio-economic criteria should be specifically considered and strongly weighted in the process Suggest reviewing the FIT 2.o weighting process as an example

24. Consultation Process Many groups are being consulted but municipalities have been left out of any consultation Such a process should allow affected communities to have a say on routing and access near or through their communities One example of the significance that consultation can play can be noted in the Environmental Protection Act, Regulation 359/09 Sections 16 and 18 It is clear that the Provincial Legislature places a high value on such consultation, why should this process be any different

25. Transfer Capacity We support the assertion that reliability and transfer capacity be added as “must pass” criteria in the designation process Transfer capacity could be the primary criteria as the constrictions of the present line greatly limit business development in N. Ontario Given that the predicted life of the proposed line will be 70 years, it is important that the transfer capacity matter be addressed now. The planning horizon of 25 years in the Northern Growth Plan should be the focus of any consultations resulting from the designation process Given the number of decades that the asset is needed to operate, reliability will need to be a major criteria

26. Tracking Performance Tracking performance by the designated transmitter will be important The Board should require the filing of quarterly reports measured against various performance criteria Allows Board to track progress Allows an opportunity to intervene if acceptable progress is not being made by the designated transmitter

27. Designating a Backup Instead of a back-up transmitter the Board could list all proponents in order of preference The Board could then use the list to progressively select an alternate should the initially designated transmitter not be prepared to proceed The Board need not include all proponents on the list and could remove those who do not meet minimum thresholds

28. Summary General project support Failure of the process to recognize the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario Designation criteria Weighted designation criteria Consultation process Transfer capacity Tracking performance Designation of a back-up