Ontario Power Generation

ELLIOTT CHUTE STATION

PLANT GROUP: Central Hydro Plant Group
DRAINAGE BASIN: Lake Huron
RIVER: South River
TRIBUTARY: French River
NEAREST POPULATION CENTRE: Powassan (5 KM (3 Miles) North)
IN SERVICE DATE: October 1929
BUILT BY : Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario
Asset Transferred to Ontario Power Generation: April 1, 1999
NUMBER OF UNITS: 1
CONTROL: Northbury

HISTORICAL NOTE:
The Elliott Chute development was the third of the Commission's plants on the South River and the third also serving the Nipissing system. This system comprised the city of North Bay and the villages of Callander (nearby birthplace of the Dionne quintuplets) and Powassan, along with a number of rural customers, was not interconnected with any of the Commission's other systems and was therefore independent for power.

Due to some of the characteristics of the river, it was becoming increasingly difficult to meet the growing load demands of the system, and the construction of the plant along with the storage basin became necessary. In fact, it was so greatly needed that it was brought into service some weeks earlier than was at first planned and before construction was fully completed.

MISCELLANEOUS:
Ontario Power Generation co-operates with the Ministry of Natural Resources every April by maintaining the water level at 264 m (866.5 ft) to enhance conditions for pickerel spawning.