Representatives of some Lambton municipalities are growing frustrated over a lack of natural gas service to their communities.
Brooke-Alvinston councillor Don McCabe expressed his frustration with Enbridge publicly at the State of Lambton Business Breakfast earlier this week.
"I noticed you're really, really, really nice to us when you want to come across our land with a big pipeline, but you're not worth a damn on the phone when we need [natural gas lines] on rural roads for our residents, and more importantly, [to service] our agricultural businesses," said McCabe.
The former Inwood fire chief and Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) president told the energy company its report card could improve.
"I'm getting very anxious," McCabe said. "I'm going to give you a D now, but it's certainly headed for an F minus."
Warwick Township Mayor Todd Case also touched on the issue.
"In Warwick Village, there is no natural gas," said Case. "It's ironic that the landfill [Twin Creeks Environmental Centre (TCEC)] we happen to be involved with is now producing natural gas from methane -- which is a positive thing for the environment -- but all that natural gas is leaving our community and going down the road," Case said.
Mayor Case said it doesn't make sense.
"We really could use some of that natural gas in our own community," he said. "We are working, we are lobbying the government hard. We're meeting with Minister of Energy Todd Smith, trying to get them to provide the funding to expand natural gas into our community. Again, it's very important to the agricultural community, but also very important to residential areas that don't have that."
Case stressed the investment would help the economics of their communities.
When contacted by Sarnia News Today, Enbridge Gas Communications Advisor Steve Presant had this to say.
"We sympathize with residents across Ontario, including those in the Municipality of Brooke-Alvinston and Township of Warwick, that want access to the affordable and resilient energy that natural gas provides," Presant said in a statement. "It is more important than ever for local leaders to express their constituents’ desire to connect, and we will continue to have conversations with communities across Ontario as we work towards this shared goal."
Enbridge Gas applied to the Ontario Energy Board for approval to place approximately 15.3 kilometres of six-inch steel pipeline through Brooke-Alvinston and Warwick Township in 2023.
Construction of the pipeline was expected to begin this spring and be completed by December, 2024.