Please say no to this project!

RISK TO WATER

TC Energy’s pumped storage project would tunnel deep into a contaminated military base—directly above the waters of Georgian Bay. The threat to drinking water is real.

The proposed site sits on the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre, a 19,000-acre military base used for live-fire weapons training for over 80 years. Unexploded ordnance (UXOs), heavy metals, and toxic chemicals are known or suspected to contaminate large areas of the base.

The Department of National Defence (DND) admits it’s nearly impossible to assess the full extent of contamination. In a letter to Save Georgian Bay, DND stated: “It is very difficult to provide a tally and type of ammunition that may be on 4 CDTC.”

Disturbing the site through excavation, tunneling, and blasting could release hazardous substances into the surrounding land, air—and Georgian Bay itself. In documents obtained via an Access to Information request, DND warns that site disturbance could: “Expose more of these elements to the surrounding area… Pollution of the water creates large concerns for marine animals’ health and for any person drawing water from the bay for personal use.”

Meaford and many other communities around the bay rely on Georgian Bay for clean drinking water. Without full, transparent, independent environmental assessment, it is reckless and unacceptable to risk contaminating this essential shared resource.

EXHORBITANT COSTS

TC Energy’s proposed pumped storage project comes with a staggering $7 billion price tag—likely to exceed $10 billion.

Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) rejected this project at least twice, citing insufficient value for energy consumers.

There are better, cheaper options. Battery storage, favoured by the IESO, offers the same service at half the cost—without carving into the Niagara Escarpment or disturbing a contaminated military site on Georgian Bay.

Ontario deserves clean energy solutions that are cost-effective, modern, and accountable—not a boondoggle disguised as green infrastructure.

RISK TO THE ENVIRONMENT

TC Energy’s proposed pumped storage project would destroy rare habitat and put the health of Georgian Bay’s ecosystem at serious risk.

• Escarpment Habitat Destruction - The project would cause unavoidable, irreversible destruction of 500 acres of Escarpment land. The Escarpment is one of Ontario’s most significant natural features—and this development would permanently scar it. This includes land on a contaminated military base that is also vital habitat. Sure, the military base portion is exempt from Bioshere reserve status—but that doesn’t make it less worthy of protection. The site is home to 36+ Species at Risk, including 9 Endangered species. Once destroyed, this habitat cannot be replaced.
• Threats to the Aquatic Ecosystem - TC Energy’s open-loop system would withdraw and discharge 23 billion litres of water from Georgian Bay every day. The intake and outflow would stir up sediment and increase turbidity, damaging fish habitat and water quality. Fish kill is a known consequence of projects like this. Water intakes trap and kill fish through entrainment and impingement. At Bruce Power’s nearby facility, a similar intake killed millions of fish in 2025. The Ludington pumped storage project in Michigan killed up to 150 million fish per year before legal action forced change. It still kills many despite mitigation. Chief Greg Nadjiwon has acknowledged the reality—This project will kill fish. But TC Energy still hasn’t disclosed how many. How many is too many?

SAFETY RISK

TC Energy wants to build a massive 325-acre reservoir high above Georgian Bay. It would hold 23 billion litres of water—directly above 300+ homes, farms, cottages, and businesses. But what happens if that dam fails? It’s happened before.

In 2005, a pumped storage dam just like this one collapsed at the Taum Sauk project in Missouri, USA. Why did it fail? A combination of engineering flaws, faulty gauges, and human error. The reservoir overflowed. There was no emergency spillway. The dam collapsed. The result? Over $1 billion in environmental and property damage.  A wall of water surged through a nearby state park, flattening everything in its path. Miraculously, no one died—only because it was in a remote, unpopulated area.

Meaford is not remote. TC Energy’s reservoir would be built above a populated community on fragile sedimentary fissure rock that makes up the escarpment. We cannot take the risk of the reservoir failing, whatever the cause. No design is perfect. No system is immune to human or technical failure. A dam of this size, holding billions of litres above family homes, poses a low-probability, high-impact risk that is simply not acceptable.

THERE ARE BETTER ALTERNATIVES!

Once considered state-of-the-art, pumped storage has long been surpassed. It’s big, expensive, and inefficient—and it simply doesn’t stand up to today’s energy storage alternatives. The world has moved on to faster, cleaner, more flexible solutions.

Grid-Scale Batteries - Ontario now has better options—like grid-scale batteries—that are faster to deploy, far less costly, and don’t require new transmission line infrastructure. Modern battery technology is efficient, flexible, and already being built across the province. Battery storage projects are already being deployed across Ontario and around the world. They’re fast to build, flexible in location, and far more efficient and cost-effective than outdated open-loop pumped storage. Here are three of the most promising battery technologies for grid-scale storage:

1. Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Batteries – A type of lithium-ion battery that uses iron phosphate as a cathode material. This technology is highly stable and safe, widely available and cost-effective, 92% efficient, has a minimal environmental footprint and a short construction timeline (2-4 years).
2. Sodium-Ion Batteries - A newer battery type that uses sodium instead of lithium—an abundant, low-cost material. This technology offers lower material costs, excellent safety at high temperatures, 92% efficiency, scalability, minimal maintenance requirements, and is not location dependent (you can put them anywhere!)
3. Redox Flow Batteries - A rechargeable battery that stores energy in liquid electrolytes circulating through external tanks. This technology is ideal for long-duration energy storage, easily scalable by adding tank capacity, 70–85% efficient, has a low fire risk and a long life span.

Utilizing Hydro Quebec Reserves - When it comes to large-scale, reliable energy storage, Ontario doesn’t need to excavate the Escarpment and exploit Georgian Bay—we just need to look east. Hydro-Québec operates one of the largest and most dependable clean energy storage systems in the world. Its reservoir-based hydroelectric facilities—including Manicouagan, La Grande, and Robert-Bourassa—store more energy than Ontario consumes in an entire year. In fact, Quebec’s hydro reserves amount to 1.6× Ontario’s total annual electricity needs. Ontario can tap into this clean, dispatchable power by expanding the east-west transmission grid—a solution already identified by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) as both feasible and necessary. According to the IESO, Ontario could increase its connection to Quebec by up to 7,500 megawatts. And the cost? Far more reasonable. Expanding the transmission grid would cost up to $1,400 per kilowatt—67–80% less than TC Energy’s pumped storage project. Unlike TC Energy’s proposal, this approach doesn’t involve blasting into contaminated land or risking our drinking water. Clean. Affordable. Already built. All we need is the political will to connect.