At the City of North Bay’s most recent committee meeting, Rick Miller of Miller and Urso Surveying shared Atlantic Power Corporation’s plan to eventually repurpose a local out-of-use plant for future tenants.
Miller explained the owners are seeking to expand the scope of possible uses for prospective tenants via a rezoning. The power plant owned by Atlantic Power Corporation and located at 4001 Highway 11 North would then be rented or leased out if the rezoning is approved, which could occur as soon as the September 4 regular meeting.
“Right now there is a cogeneration plant, which is an electricity-producing plant,” said Miller. “It was hooked into the Ontario grid until the [previous] provincial government eliminated that.”
Following a presentation outlining the recommended rezoning of the property by City planner Peter Carello, Miller answered questions from Council members on the usage by prospective tenants, including a potential agreement with a data storage operation. The committee approved the recommendation unanimously.
While Miller did mention a data storage company as a possible tenant, on August 17, following that committee meeting at City Council, Atlantic Power released a statement clarifying whether agreements had been reached with a data storage company to take tenancy at the North Bay and Kapuskasing surplus cogeneration plants:
“As previously disclosed, the Company is marketing both of the North Bay and Kapuskasing sites to a range of potential customers or alternate users of the sites. On August 14, 2018, there was a North Bay City Council hearing to consider the Company’s application for a change in zoning for the North Bay plant, which would allow for a broader range of possible uses for the site. At the hearing, although the town planning official reported accurately on the Company’s plans for the site, a consultant for the Company incorrectly indicated that the Company had a data center tenant for the North Bay site. This comment was also reported by local press the following day. The Company wishes to correct this misstatement by the consultant by indicating that it does not have any agreements in place or any prospective agreements for either the North Bay or Kapuskasing plants. Although its marketing efforts are continuing, discussions have not progressed beyond an initial stage. The Company has no plans to re-start operations at either plant in the near term.”
When Miller was reached for comment on this story, he declined.
