The greening of the Soo
Formerly down-and-out city is now a leader in renewable energy out for a piece of EV action
Peter Gorrie
SAULT STE. MARIE - The Soo is generally viewed – at least from those in Ontario's deep south – as a dull, depressed little city.
It's best known for an aging steel mill that has forever seemed to be in bankruptcy, or on the verge.
So I was surprised a while back to get a call from long-time Soo city councillor and former mayor Steve Butland, who wanted to know whether the community could get in on the electric-vehicle action.
This week, I ventured north to have a look and offer what information I could. The visit was an eye-opener: Not only is the steel mill doing reasonably well, under owners from India, but the city has enough solar, wind, biomass and other renewable power projects on the go to call itself the Alternative Energy Capital of North America. That puts it in a growing queue of cities, including Toronto, claiming to be a green "best."
But with so much else going on up in the Soo, what's the appeal of electric cars?
They might bring jobs, although Canada – no surprise – is letting that boat steam away. Magna International, working with Ford, will make parts for some electric cars, but most of the vehicle and battery manufacturing will happen in Asia, Europe or the United States. But there might be work making charging stations, adapting the computer software that will manage them, or handling their installation and maintenance. Local people might also get involved in adjusting the electricity grid to cope with the new demands.
It's speculative, and likely a long shot. The main hope, though, appears to be that the arrival of electric vehicles would let a city promote itself as green and innovative, which would in turn attract jobs in other high-tech industries.
Vancouver is getting good mileage out of a deal with Nissan in which the company agreed to bring in a few of its all-electric Leaf sedans next year if the city installs charging stations. About 40 American cities have done the same.
Mitsubishi Canada recently announced a deal with Quebec under which it will test up to 50 of its electric i-Miev cars in the Montreal suburb of Boucherville, starting this fall, to see how they fare in cold, real-world conditions.
Boucherville's mayor, Jean Martel, was clear about the motivation. "We are very focused to the environment and we would like to attract new types of industries which are specialized in new technologies that are environmentally clean."
The Soo is no different. It has much to offer: a university, manufacturing capability, a skilled and stable workforce, Great Lakes access and lots of electricity. But cars would be a bright flag to wave.
This isn't a one-way street. Companies want their electric cars and gear out in the world to show how they work and get the public accustomed. That's why, while most early cars go to government or business fleets for practical evaluation, celebrities get some to generate publicity.
The Soo has a major advantage: Its renewable energy would be an advertising bonus for companies that make cars and charging stations. After all, batteries offer few environmental benefits if they consume electricity generated by burning coal or oil.
It would also evaluate the cars' utility in small cities, where many North Americans live.
Electric vehicles might do well in these demonstrations. Consumers might want to buy them. Or not.
In either case, people in the Soo realize this is a flag worth pursuing. It all comes down to our relationship with cars. Electric or otherwise, they still capture our imaginations like almost nothing else.