COURTRIGHT, ONT. – Hydro One Inc., along with First Nation partners and provincial and municipal leaders, recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the St. Clair Transmission Line.
The $471.9 million project consists of a new 64-kilometre, double-circuit 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line that will connect the County of Lambton and Municipality of Chatham-Kent, while expanding the existing Chatham Switching Station and Lambton Transformer Station (TS) and converting the existing Wallaceburg TS to 230 kV by 2028, states a release.
The line is part of a network of projects including the Chatham to Lakeshore line that was energized in late-2024 and Longwood to Lakeshore transmission lines, being developed in collaboration with five First Nation partners in the region.
Construction of the project is anticipated to generate approximately 70 jobs and will be led by contractors Forbes Bros. Group of Companies and Black & McDonald Limited, the release adds.
In 2022, Hydro One was directed by the Ontario government to begin early development work on the St. Clair Transmission Line following public and Indigenous consultations.
Electricity demand in southwest Ontario continues to increase quickly, the release adds. The Independent Electricity System Operator predicts demand for electricity in the region will quadruple by 2035, while demand across Ontario will surge approximately 75 per cent by 2050.
Once built, the line is expected to provide an additional 450 megawatts of clean electricity to the region – enough to power a city the size of London.
