The Ontario government has accepted the advice of the Premier’s Advisory Council on Government Assets and will continue to operate a state-of-the-art Grid Control Centre in Barrie, Ont. The facility, which operates 97 per cent of the transmission grid in Ontario and the power distribution assets of Hydro One, is part of a transmission system that includes enough transmission and distribution lines to circle the earth three times.

By law, the Grid Control Centre, along with Hydro One’s headquarters and senior leadership team, will now be required to remain in Ontario.

“The Ontario Grid Control Centre is a vital piece of Ontario’s electricity system infrastructure,” says Jeff Lehman, Mayor of Barrie. “I am pleased that the government has accepted the recommendation of the Premier’s Advisory Council on Government Assets that this resource remains in Ontario, right here in Barrie.”

The transmission system under the operation of the Ontario Grid Control Centre includes 91,195 transmission structures (towers and poles), 284 transmission stations, and 1,008 distribution stations.