Last December, the electricity grid in Margaret Kenequanash’s home community of North Caribou Lake was so fragile she says even hanging Christmas lights risked sparking a dangerous power outage.

“We couldn’t even celebrate Christmas,” she said.

“It becomes an emergency situation when there’s a power outage in the community. Milk, food starts to go bad in fridges. We have elderly people that require day-to-day support and care. We need to make sure they’re looked after,” Kenequanash said.

The diesel generator that powers this remote First Nations community in Northwestern Ontario is at capacity and just can’t keep up with demand, Kenequanash said.

The problem is mirrored in First Nations communities across Northwestern Ontario. In some communities, the situation is so bad that local governments have declared a state of emergency.

But relief could be on the horizon, with the July 29 announcement that the Ontario government has designated Wataynikaneyap Power the transmission company to build an ambitious 1,800-kilometre power line linking 17 remote First Nations communities to the Ontario power grid.

Wataynikaneyap Power is a partnership between 22 Northern Ontario First Nations communities , FortisOntario and RES Canada. Kenequanash, who chairs that partnership, said she has been working towards an indigenous-led solution to the power problem for eight years.

The lack of reliable power “compromises the community development, infrastructure, and basic needs like food, shelter. In the winter at -40 C, water lines can freeze. It compromises everything,” she said. “With this announcement it will enable us to move forward on the crisis.”

The Star reported in April, there are 28 active states of emergency in First Nations communities in Ontario. Eight are partners in Wataynikaneyap Power, including two — Pikangikum and Poplar Hill First Nation — where the emergency is due to not having reliable power.

In Ryan Sakakeep’s community on the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, the power pinch is making an already overcrowded housing situation worse, with some families living 12 to a house, he said.

Like North Caribou Lake, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s diesel generator struggles to keep up with demand, said Sakakeep, a band councillor. Even if they build more badly needed houses, there’s no way to power them, he said.

“We have 45 or more people waiting for a home, but we can’t hook up any more houses or buildings to our diesel generator,” Sakakeep said. “It’s actually critical because if we’re on the grid, we’ll be able to build houses.”

The funding model for the project has yet to be determined by the Ontario Energy Board, but negotiations for a cost-sharing agreement with the federal government are ongoing, Katrina Xavier, an energy ministry spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The new power line is expected to cost $1.35 billion, but connecting to the provincial grid will save $1 billion in fuel costs over 40 years, Kenequanash said.

According to Wataynikaneyap’s analysis, the cost of shipping about 25 million litres of diesel to the north each year to burn for power is three to 10 times higher than Ontario’s average electricity cost. Currently, power in the north is subsidized by the federal government and Ontario electricity ratepayers, so the benefits of the new line will extend beyond the north, Kenequanash said.

The First Nations involved are majority owners of the project. Once the line is built, there will be a buyout plan for Fortis and RES, eventually leaving the First Nations with 100 per cent ownership and control.

Pulling together 22 communities spread across a huge swath of remote Northwestern Ontario was a challenge, Kenequanash said, but maintaining indigenous control of the project was an integral part of that success.

“I would suggest that this is probably a very precedent-setting partnership,” said Tim Lavoie, the director of northern development for Algoma Power, which FortisOntario owns.

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“With the First Nation control and ownership of the project, we follow their leadership and make sure we’re addressing all the needs of the communities as we build a company to own and operate this,” he said.

The project still needs environmental assessments and regulatory approval to begin construction. Clibbon said crews are already surveying, applying for permits and consulting with the communities whose traditional territory falls along the proposed route.