MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2020

16 On a blizzardy December 11, 2019, the Meaford & St. Vincent Community Centre was over capacity. They were forced to shut the doors to people wanting in. Inside, a dozen or so TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Corporation) employees were presenting their proposed pumped storage project at the Department of National Defence (DND) 4 th Canadian Division Training Centre (locally known as the Meaford Tank Range) while well over 350 locals and concerned citizens talked about the idea. The general feeling wasn’t positive; locals aren’t happy about this proposal. Heckled by the otherwise respectful crowd, TC Energy’s business development director for the project, John Mikkelsen, presented a slideshow of the proposal to sporadic jeers and taunts not to build it. But he never wavered. There was dead silence when he finished his speech. Not a single person clapped. So what was it all about? It’s complicated. We’ll try to whittle it down.TC Energy wants to build a pumped storage project at the Tank Range. What’s a pumped storage project? Great question. It’s easiest to think of it as a giant battery. As there are fluctuations in power usage throughout the day, TC Energy can use off-peak, surplus power from the grid to pump water upwards. Gaining nearly 150 metres of elevation, this water will fill a massive reservoir; in essence, charging the battery. During times of high power usage, when the grid is struggling to meet demand, this water from the upper reservoir runs back down the pipes and through turbines to create energy, which feeds back into the grid. It’s not a completely lossless system, as slightly more energy is used to pump the water upwards than is created, but it is one of the more efficient ways to store energy at this point. UPFRONT PUMPED STORAGE PROPOSAL ON GEORGIAN BAY GENERATES MEGAWATTS OF PROTEST Protesters outside the Meaford & St.Vincent Community Centre. COLIN FIELD