Open Loop Pumped Storage across the bay from UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve is needlessly dangerous, costly AND totally Obsolete.

Environmental Concerns

The proposed pumped storage project poses significant environmental risks to the UNESCO BIOSPHERE RESERVE of South Georgian Bay’s ecosystem. The construction and operation of such a large-scale OPEN LOOP hydro facility would disrupt aquatic habitats, alter natural water flow, and threaten water quality in one of Ontario’s most sensitive freshwater environments.

Meanwhile, modern chemical battery technologies—such as Vanadium Flow, sodium-ion, and other emerging battery systems—offer clean, efficient, modular, and rapidly deployable alternatives. These solutions can deliver the same 1,000 MW of long-duration storage without the ecological disruption associated with large-scale hydro engineering. As these technologies continue to advance, their lifecycle environmental footprint and cost per megawatt-hour are steadily decreasing, making pumped storage appear outdated and environmentally regressive. They can also be upgraded or upscaled as needed if more storage becomes necessary in the near or distant future. This cannot be said for the 300 acre pond dug out of the toxic tank range site 

Fiscal Concerns

The project’s financial outlook is equally troubling. The estimated cost has more than doubled, from approximately $4 billion in 2019 to $8–10 billion in 2026, with a realistic projection of up to $20 billion by completion in 2035 due to inflation, material costs, and project delays and overuns. This escalation represents poor value for both taxpayers and ratepayers.

In contrast, a battery-based storage park of equivalent capacity could be built for under $2 billion, completed in a fraction of the time, and expanded incrementally as demand grows. Battery systems also offer flexibility in siting, reduced transmission losses, and lower maintenance costs over their operational life, and a much smaller carbon footprint to build. 

Furthermore, the economic assumptions underpinning the pumped storage model—particularly its reliance on time-of-use price differentials over a 50-year horizon—are increasingly unrealistic. As electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps flatten Ontario’s daily electricity demand curve, the price gaps between peak and off-peak hours will diminish. This will erode the profitability of pumped storage operations and undermine the project’s long-term financial justification.

In summary, the South Georgian Bay pumped storage proposal is environmentally risky, fiscally unsound, and technologically obsolete. Ontario’s energy future would be better served by investing in scalable, sustainable battery storage systems that deliver equivalent capacity with lower cost, faster deployment, and minimal environmental impact. The project represents a misallocation of public resources at a time when cleaner, smarter alternatives are readily available.

This project's needless cost to the environment and rate/taxpayers will be even more obviously ill conceived by the time it is built.