Enbridge Gas wants to put a energy storage facility at its Dawn-Euphemia complex on Bentpath Line.

In a letter to local councils, Denise Heckbert of Enbridge says the company is planning a one to two megawatt solar operation along side a one to two megawatt Battery Energy Storage System.

“The project will operate as an internal, off-grid energy system with plans to operate starting May 2025,” she wrote.

The project will be bound by Bentpath Line to the south, a backlot line and the Dawn facility to the north, Dawn Valley Road to the west, and Cuthbert Road to the east.

Heckbert rights it “will include solar panels and racking, inverters and transformers, electrical interconnection, a substation and communications tower, access roads, buildings and structures, perimeter fencing, temporary storage and staging areas, battery cells and modules, battery racks, and battery and power systems.”

Dawn-Euphemia Mayor Al Broad says the municipality has received no information other than the letter which was included in the public agenda. He plans to attend a public meeting planned for Oil Springs Jan. 24 starting at 6 pm.

This is not the first time Enbridge has proposed a Battery Energy Storage Project. In December 2022, the company began pitching three projects in St. Clair Township, one on Tecumseh Road, one on Ladysmith Line and one on Petrolia Line. They’re all to the east and south of Nova Chemical’s plant at the corner of Petrolia Line and Highway 40.

Each of the three sites could produce up to 200 MW of power, enough to power 200,000 homes.
Neighbours voiced concerns over the project citing fires at similar projects in California which burned out of control in the past.

The Independent Energy System Operator did not approve the plans.

There have also been plans to build the storage units near Oil City and Wyoming. Oil City was turned down by Enniskillen council after a public outcry. The Wyoming area project was shelved because the power grid in the area couldn’t handle the new system.