Cost of cancelling gas plants is at least $828M: expert
by The Canadian Press
Bruce Sharp's testimony in line with opposition claims that costs much higher than Liberals say
TORONTO—An energy expert says the cost of cancelling the gas plant in Oakville is $638 million—far more than the government’s figure of $40-million.
Bruce Sharp, a mechanical engineer who says he’s spent 25 years in the energy sector, testified at a legislative committee that he’s pegged the cost at $638-million.
He says relocating the plant will cost $40-million, but there are other gas delivery and transmission costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Sharp says he agrees that the cost of relocating another plant in Mississauga will cost $190-million, but that could have been at least $28-million lower.
The testimony has bolstered opposition claims that the costs of cancelling the two plants costs much more than the $230-million figure the governing Liberals have put out.
They’ve accused the Liberals of relocating the Oakville gas plant in 2010 and the Mississauga plant in the dying days of the 2011 election campaign to save Liberal seats in the face of local opposition to the projects.
