Hydro One building 162km transmission line to power Ontario mining boom

Key Takeaways:

• The Ontario government is prioritizing the Red Lake transmission line to meet a projected 525% surge in energy demand from dozens of new mining projects.
• First Nations communities are offered an equity partnership with Hydro One that allows for a 50 percent ownership stake in the infrastructure once it is finished.
• The project aims to create 5800 jobs and add $830 million to the provincial GDP with a target completion date in the early 2030s.

The Whole Story:

The Ontario government has declared the Red Lake transmission line a priority project and designated Hydro One to develop and construct the 162-kilometre double-circuit 230-kV transmission line.

The new line, connecting through Dryden, Ear Falls and Red Lake in Northern Ontario, is designed to support a surge in electricity demand driven by mining expansion. Demand in the Red Lake region is expected to rise from approximately 120 megawatts today to potentially over 750 megawatts by 2050—a 525 per cent increase—as the sector grows by an estimated 41 potential new mines by 2033.

The project will serve major mining developments including Kinross Gold’s Great Bear Project and Frontier Lithium’s PAK Lithium Project, both accelerated through Ontario’s One Project One Process framework.

The designation accelerates Ontario Energy Board approval processes and provides regulatory certainty for development and Indigenous consultation, the ministry said. First Nations communities will have access to Hydro One’s equity partnership model, which provides up to a 50 per cent equity stake in the transmission line once construction is complete.

“Our government is on a mission to grow our economy by generating more reliable hydro power in the North and electrifying one of Ontario’s most mineral rich regions with a new transmission line,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Mines, in a statement. “We are accelerating the transmission line to power new mines, strengthen energy security and create good jobs.”

The ministry estimates the project will support 5,800 jobs and $830 million in gross domestic product. The transmission line is expected to be in service in the early 2030s.

Alongside the transmission project, the government is launching the Northern Hydro Program to renew contracts for hydroelectric stations larger than 10 megawatts, securing more than 1,000 MW of existing capacity, most in Northern Ontario. Hydroelectricity currently provides approximately 24 per cent of Ontario’s power.

The government has also directed the Independent Electricity System Operator to launch a competitive Long-Lead Time procurement to secure up to one terawatt-hour per year of new hydroelectric power and up to 800 megawatts of capacity from long-duration storage. Applications open May 10, 2026, with successful projects connecting to the grid by May 2035.