Fred Kuntz, Sr. Mgr., Corporate Relations and Projects | Bruce County
’Tis the season: We think of the year-end holidays as a time of giving – and while OPG works year-round to sponsor worthy community initiatives, we make an extra effort in December to ensure we deliver our entire regional allocation through OPG’s Corporate Citizenship Program. This year, we distributed a total of $144,390 to 67 projects across Bruce County. For example, in our host community of Kincardine, OPG supported Canada Day events, the Lighthouse Blues Festival, Lake Huron Fishing Club, Women’s House, OPG Basketball, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Huron Shores Hospice, Kincardine Community Achievement Awards (OPG Environment Award), Kincardine Summer Music Festival, Tiverton Agricultural Society, Kincardine Legion Remembrance Day, Kincardine District Food Bank, Kincardine Heritage Lighting Project, and Pine River Watershed Initiative. Other support went to community groups in surrounding municipalities, including the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre; and larger donations went to all three hospital foundations in the Bruce area, as well as local food banks to help address food vulnerability amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public accountability: In early December, OPG completed a round of delegations to local municipal councils including Kincardine, Huron-Kinloss, Arran-Elderslie, Saugeen Shores, Brockton, and Bruce County. The briefings on OPG’2 2021 activities received a warm reception from elected officials, and also earned media coverage, for example a Walkerton Herald-Times story republished by the Toronto Star.
Rolling up our sleeves: This fall, OPG employees at the Bruce site picked up tools to help build affordable housing for families of Neyaashiinigmiing, also known as the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. Along with other volunteers for Habitat for Humanity Grey Bruce, the OPG team worked on several homes, including a replacement for one that burned down earlier this year. “We had two really great days with nice company at the build site, and the support was for an important cause,” said Kris Probodiak, Manager of Business Support with OPG’s Nuclear Sustainability Services.
Around Ontario and beyond:
Advancing clean energy:OPG announced it will work with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to deploy a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) at the Darlington new nuclear site. Leveraging a strong Ontario-based supply chain, this clean-energy project will create jobs across the province. OPG and GE Hitachi will collaborate on SMR engineering and planning, with the goal of constructing Canada’s first commercial, grid-scale SMR, to be completed as early as 2028.
Fast chargers: Electric-vehicle drivers will soon be able to charge at all ONroute locations along Ontario’s busiest highways, thanks to an agreement between Ivy Charging Network and ONroute and its partners, Canadian Tire and the Ministry of Transportation. Ivy’s Charge & Go level 3 fast chargers will be open at 17 ONroute locations along Highways 401 and 400 by mid-2022, and three more ONroute locations by the end of 2022. Ivy is a joint venture between OPG and Hydro One.
Climate progress: On the one-year anniversary of the release of OPG’s Climate Change Plan, the latest edition of Net-Zero News reports on actions underway toward reaching our ambitious goals: to become a net-zero carbon company by 2040 and to help the economies where we operate achieve net-zero by 2050.
Modernized policy: OPG participated this year in Natural Resources Canada’s public review of the federal policy framework for permanent disposal of low- and intermediate-level nuclear materials. NRCan says it plans to release a draft of a “modernized” policy later this winter, as outlined in an adjusted timeline on its website. OPG looks forward to seeing the outcome, and remains committed to lasting solutions – the right thing to do for future generations.
To you and yours, best wishes for a safe and festive holiday season, and a Happy New Year!
