The presentation will describe the transmission development plans that are being implemented by Hydro One over the next four years. In view of changing load and generation patterns, increasing demand in some areas of the province, and limited investments in transmission over the past several years (partly due to the changing industry structure), there is now an increasing need to reinforce the transmission infrastructure in the province. The challenges for transmission investments are exacerbated by the aging transmission infrastructure, some of which was built at the beginning of the last century, which will need refurbishment or replacement over the next few years. A long-term Integrated Power System Plan (IPSP) comprising Conservation and Demand Management and potential generation and transmission plans is to be issued by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) shortly, and this will be considered by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) over the next few months. In the interim, there is a need to commence work on several transmission development projects, on a Pre-IPSP basis, in order to maintain and provide adequate reliability of supply in the short and medium terms. With support about the rationale from OPA, Hydro One has commenced work on several such Pre-IPSP projects that are currently in various stages of approval and/or construction. The presentation will summarize these projects.

Naren Pattani, P.Eng., is the Manager of Transmission System Development department at Hydro One Networks, Inc. In this capacity, he is responsible for planning for projects to increase the transmission system capability between different areas of Ontario, to support changing generation and load patterns, and to ensure adequate local area supply capability to maintain reliability of supply to the Local Distribution Companies and large industrial customers. Naren has been with Ontario Hydro / Hydro One for over 25 years, covering various aspects including planning, transmission pricing (rate making), regulatory affairs including leave-to-construct and revenue requirement applications, strategic affairs, and wholesale market design. Prior to joining Hydro, Naren worked with the former Shawinigan Engineering Consultants, Montréal, for seven years.