Evolugen, a renewable energy company based in Gatineau, Que., will get another chance to garner the local support it needs for a proposed battery storage facility south of Fitzroy Harbour.Evolugen, a Gatineau-based renewable energy company, is being given another chain to gain local support for its proposed battery storage project south of Fitzroy Harbour. A renewable energy company based in Gatineau, Que.
Facing a tight deadline to apply to the IESO, the company was not able to answer all of residents' "legitimate" concerns about the project, said Geoff Wright, Evolugen's Canadian head of development, adding that it was "a really hard lesson" for the company. A majority of Ottawa city councillors — including West Carleton-March Coun. Clarke Kelly, whose ward includes the land where the facility would go — then voted against the proposal.The IESO's decision seemed like "a little bit of a slap in the face" when it comes to the public consultation process, he told CBC on Saturday.
A new round of public engagement is slated to begin this summer, and Wright said Evolugen is hopeful the next year and a half will offer "enough time for people to get all the facts on the table." Guy Quenneville is a reporter at CBC Ottawa born and raised in Cornwall, Ont. He can be reached at guy.quenneville@cbc.ca