The public has an opportunity to learn more about a pair of energy projects planned for Fort Frances that could significantly contribute to the municipality once they are up and running.
FirstLight Energy will be holding an open house information session about its proposed Solar Panel array and Battery Energy Storage project (BESP) tonight from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at La Place Rendez-Vous. According to FirstLight Energy senior project manager Alex Moore, who gave a short verbal presentation to council during last night’s regular meeting, the information session will allow residents of Fort Frances the chance to learn more about the pair of projects, as well as to ask questions of the FirstLight representatives.
“Both myself and my colleagues will be there in person just to engage one-on-one with people who come by, discuss the projects, gather feedback, answer any kind of questions or concerns that you may have,” Moore said.
“So our community engagement piece is beginning today and tomorrow with the open house and the launch of our project websites. So we’ve got a project website for the battery storage project and solar project. We’ll be hosting project information updates, the latest on the kind of design, next steps, and we’ll have the responses to any kind of questions and the community engagement from [tonight]. We also have project email addresses so those who can’t attend [tonight] or that have further comments or questions over the next few weeks and months, can reach out to us, and we can respond individually.”
The pair of projects were first presented to council late last year. At the time, FirstLight said the projects were to address the Ontario Ministry of Energy’s call for an additional 5,000 MW of power capacity in the province’s electrical grid by 2026 in order to make up for projected shortfalls, as the Fort Frances Times reported in the Wednesday, December 4, 2025, edition. Moore said during that initial presentation that the project complied with the Ontario Independent Energy System Operator’s (IESO) aim to split procurement for the projected shortfall into two streams, energy and capacity.
Since that initial meeting, Moore told council the projects have been somewhat delayed due to the provincial election earlier this year, the uncertainty surrounding U.S. President Donald Trumps on-again-off-again tariffs and their impact on Canada’s industry, as well as “other issues which have delayed the release of the final contract documents.”
However, even with the delays, Moore said FirstLight is dedicated to remaining on schedule regarding the deadlines for the projects, with the company committed to submitting the Solar Panel project in October of this year, and the BESP to be submitted in December. The company will also be seeking a Municipal Support Resolution from the Town of Fort Frances, which does not bypass any municipal, provincial or federal planning and permitting requirement, but simply shows the IESO there is support from the host municipality for the project.
“Every project that gets municipal support those recent still needs to go through the normal routes to get permitted, approved and regulated through design and operation and construction,” Moore said.
“We believe that these projects have a great opportunity to be competitive in these procurements in this round and potentially future rounds, and offer significant community benefits through the planned municipal vibrancy funds, which will provide over a million dollars over 20 years per project to the community for reinvestment, through direct and indirect benefits, through construction, operation, maintenance of the projects, as well as an increase in the overall municipal tax base. We hope these projects and FirstLight can also support your ongoing efforts through the microgrid project. We’ve engaged early on that and are really looking forward to continuing to support the municipality in your effort to get that project off the ground, and if one or two of these projects are successful in seeing how we can really co-develop and find some efficiencies for both us and for the municipality and, ultimately, ratepayers in the province and the town of Fort Frances.”
