City council has given the go ahead for the Sault PUC to proceed with an over 30-million dollar project to upgrade the electrical distribution system—the approval came at a special meeting held last night.
The smart grid uses advance technology and the benefits include better voltage control which will reduce energy consumption by an estimated 4% to the benefit of monthly customer bills.
It will also reduce the frequency and length of power interuptions and will allow for the storage of electricity.
Council’s approval is conditional on receiving at least 9-million dollars in financial support from the senior levels of government.
With last night’s approval, the project will move to the engineering stage with the goal of starting construction in 2019.