The IRRP is the planning vehicle that is meant to consider a broad range of options, including non-wires alternatives. ORA asks the IESO to hold to that purpose in the Northwest. Several large transmission builds are already underway or contemplated for the region: the $1.2 billion dollar Waasigan line, in service between 2026 and 2027,2 the Red Lake line north of Dryden, a 230 kV double-circuit build that nearly quadruples the area’s capacity, roughly 400 MW, and is expected in the early 2030s, a planned 230 kV line toward the Greenstone area, and the recently completed East-West Tie at about $777 million. The IESO has not published a cost estimate for the Red Lake line, though it almost certainly holds one; CBC reports it at $830 million. For scale, the province’s new Barrie-to-Sudbury bulk line is estimated at $1.4 to $1.6 billion. These are multi-billion-dollar commitments. A wind, solar, and battery storage package sized to a remote community’s need costs a fraction of a long transmission build and can be deployed far sooner, so communities are not left waiting years for power that a local resource could deliver.
