TORONTO — Ontario has finished the Etobicoke Greenway transmission project on time and $10 million under budget, delivering roughly 300 megawatts of new capacity to the western Greater Toronto Area.Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce made the announcement Tuesday morning in Etobicoke. The 230-kilovolt line runs along an existing underused corridor between the Richview and Manby transformer stations. It will strengthen supply for Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington and the west end of Toronto.Lecce said the project is equivalent to adding a small modular reactor’s worth of power to a region where demand is rising fast. “We’re here to profile a win for the ratepayer, for the taxpayer and for this economy,” he told reporters. “We can build transmission lines in partnership with Hydro One ahead of schedule and under budget.”.Hydro One president and CEO Megan Telford said the new line can power every home in Etobicoke twice over and forms part of the roughly 4,500 megawatts the utility supplies to Toronto each hour. She noted 98% of the project’s investment stayed with Canadian companies, the vast majority in Ontario.“This project is a great example of what we can achieve when great vision meets disciplined execution,” Telford said. Hydro One also reported more than $254 million in productivity savings across its operations last year.The Independent Electricity System Operator projects Ontario’s electricity demand could rise as much as 75% by 2050, driven by population growth, new housing, advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles and data centres. Toronto alone expects its grid needs to roughly double by mid-century..Lecce linked the Greenway completion to the province’s larger energy push, including the largest nuclear expansion in North America and earlier talk of a sovereign pipeline with Alberta. “We are thinking and building for the future,” he said. “That is the competitive advantage we have in this province.”Toronto Region Board of Trade CEO Giles Gherson welcomed the project as critical infrastructure that will support new housing, industrial investment and electrification while keeping the region competitive amid U.S. tariff pressure.The completion comes as municipalities grapple with proposed AI data centres. Lecce reiterated that under Bill 40, any new large load must pay 100 per cent of generation and transmission costs so everyday ratepayers are not left subsidizing them.The Etobicoke Greenway joins other recent Hydro One deliveries, including the Chatham-to-Lakeshore line finished a year early and $30 million under budget.
