Bob Nault, Member of Parliament for Kenora, and the Pikangikum community celebrate completion of the line.
Pikangikum First Nation, Treaty 5 Territory, Ontario: On December 20, Federal and Pikangikum First Nation officials celebrated the completion of a transmission line connecting the community to the Ontario power grid. Pikangikum is the first community to be connected to the provincial power grid through the Wataynikaneyap Power project.
In March 2018, the federal government announced a $1.6 billion investment in Wataynikaneyap Power, an Indigenous-led and majority owned transmission company working to connect First Nations communities to the Ontario power grid by 2023. The new line enables Pikangikum to eliminate its dependence on diesel as the primary energy source, while allowing for new economic development and job opportunities that were not possible in the past.
Installing one of the transformers
High voltage service contractors in the project were Cormorant and its affiliates, PowerTel and EPTCON, and local subcontractors Whitefeather Forest Management Corporation, Draco Energy Inc., the Windigo Expedition Partnership, First Nations Timber, and Obish Construction.
The Pikangikum transmission line represents a $60.2 million federal investment, as part of the total federal investment of $1.6 billion in the Wataynikaneyap Power project.