Interview with the Warden - Feb 13th 2025

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Thursday, 13 February 2025 10:31

Warden Marcus Ryan talks about a proposed battery storage facility, the new policy for water and wastewater connections and more.

OXFORD COUNTY - A battery storage facility could be coming to Oxford County.

Boralex Inc. presented a delegation to Oxford County Council yesterday, proposing the construction of a battery storage facility in South-West Oxford. It would be in a gravel pit not too far from Woodstock.

The Independent Electricity System Operator, which regulates electricity in Ontario, says is predicting that there could be an energy shortage in the province in the next five to 10 years. With that being said, the province also sells some of the electricity it generates to other jurisdictions. This is the electricity that's being generated overnight, but not being used.

Warden Marcus Ryan says this battery storage facility would offer a possible solution to this issue.

"One of the ways to deal with that is to have battery storage and store some of that electricity that's generated overnight. So instead of selling it at a loss, we would store it and when we wake up at 6:00 a.m. and turn on our coffee points it's there to use."

Boralex Inc. will now go through the planning process and Warden Ryan is expecting the application will be brought to council later this month or early next month.

Oxford County Council has also adopted a new policy for water and wastewater connections. This is for the homes that are not serviced by County water and wastewater, but the servicing has recently been added to their area.

Warden Ryan says these homes have to connect the the County water and wastewater system eventually for it to work properly.

"This new policy that we adopted allows people up to 20 years from the time their septic system was installed to connect, so they can get value out of that."

He adds there is a financial hardship program for those who can't afford to connect to the system.

Oxford County Council has also received some exciting news from Woodingford Lodge recently. Warden Ryan says it has received the second highest possible accreditation rating from the third party evaluator.

"Staff are certainly very happy with it and Council is very proud of the work being done. I think residents, especially people who have a family member or a friend in a Woodingford Lodge, should be very happy with this because a third party is saying that the quality and level of service that Woodingford Lodge residents are receiving is top notch."

During his interview with Dan and Marcie this morning, Warden Ryan also commented on some of the other exciting news out of the County over the past few weeks. An Homelessness Addictions Resource Treatment (HART) Hub will be built in Woodstock and the County has also received $500,000 in affordable housing money from the province. Oxford has received $200,000 for encampment response as well, which will help provide seasonal emergency shelter beds in Tillsonburg and hire someone to help the homeless navigate the supports that are available.

Warden Ryan says this is a huge step in the right direction.

"It is the start of some of the tools we have been lacking and now we're putting those tools in place to actually start to get out of this situation. Combined with the HART Hub announcement, it's quite exciting to start putting these things in place, seeing how its going to work and how we're going to make it happen for people."

You can listen to the full interview below: