Mayors quiz Enbridge Gas rep on future plans "$56"- * 5 r /&84
asked whether there would be any provincial funding grant aid to help Enbridge with any of its expansion proposals. McGill noted that the province has indicated it will provide $230million in loan funding and $30million in grants-in-aid for natural gas service exten- sion projects but that money is not available in the 2015 provincial budget though it may be part of the 2016 budget.
He added that provincial officials have also indicated natural gas outfits should work through the OEB application process first to determine “how little of that (support) money they might need to spend” so that both the loan and grant funds are available for community extension projects which are on the edge of economic feasibility under the new guidelines.
The revised guidelines now include a “community expansion surcharge” which may be applicable to a project. McGill des- cribed it as “one-time lump sum payment” by customers that would be part of their monthly service bills and could amount to between $400 to $500 a year spread over a period of from five to 10 years depending on the size of the project.
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Themayors on counties council hope they might soon have some good news to report about the chances of natural gas becoming a future fuel option formany homeowners in their municipalities. SteveMcGill of Enbridge Natural Gas sat down with the United Counties of Prescott- Russell (UCPR) council for an update on plans for expanding natural gas services into
Steve McGill of Enbridge Gas
EasternOntario. He noted that the provincial government has shown “a strong interest” in helping natural gas outfits. The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) revised the economic feasibility guidelines which have prevented many new expansion projects because they were not financially viable. “We will be filing an application either later this year or early next year,”McGill said, adding that Enbridge planned to test how the revised guidelines would work. The project Enbridge has inmind is out- side of the Five Counties region but if it works out, McGill noted, then the company will start reviewing its past reports on possible service expansion into EasternOntario com- munities. “Some of them in your jurisdiction,” McGill said. Several mayors expressed delight at the news, noting that there have been several petitions inThe NationMunicipality, Alfred- Plantagenet Township, and East Hawkesbury Township about natural gas service exten- sions from the existing Enbridge mainline running through the counties. “We are the onlymunicipality in Prescott- Russell without access to natural gas,” said UCPRWarden Robert Kirby, mayor for East Hawkesbury. “Can we have some discussions, some one-on-one talks?” asked Mayor François St-Amour ofThe Nation. “We have some big farm outfits around our villages. They’d be big customers.” Alfred-Plantagenet TownshipMayor Fer- nand Dicaire also invited McGill and other Enbridge officials to meet with his council during one of its committee of the whole sessions to talk about a possible natural gas extension to the Village of Curran and other related issues. McGill noted that both the villages of Saint-Isidore in The Nation and Curran in Alfred-Plantagenet Township are “right on the margin of qualifying” as possible new service extension projects for Enbridge under the revised OEB guidelines. Hawkesbury Mayor Jeanne Charlebois
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