BARRIE -- Hundreds of people poured into the community centre in Meaford on Wednesday evening for a standing room only meeting held by TC Energy.
The Calgary-based company is proposing a 1,000-megawatt pump and storage generation facility on the shores of Georgian Bay.
The Department of National Defense (DND) has allowed TC Energy to conduct a feasibility study on the Canadian Forces training area, which is on federal lands.
The land was originally expropriated from local farmers in the 1940s.
The generation station would work like a giant battery pumping water uphill during off-peak hours. It then releases the water back into the bay during peak demand generating enough energy to power one million homes.
The $3.3 billion project would create hundreds of jobs during construction.
The company plans to begin environmental assessments in the spring.
The DND will conduct its own impact studies.
Residents have a list of concerns, including the long-term repercussions on water quality and the destruction of fish habitat in Georgian Bay if constructed.
The meeting last night was the first of three information sessions that will take place.
The public is invited to give feedback to both TC Energy and the DND.
The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 16.
TC Energy's website states that the company anticipates construction to begin in 2022 if it gets all the go-ahead, with the plant to begin operations four years later.
Input from residents is being collected until April 2020.
