Ontario Power Generation

NIPISSING GENERATING STATION

PLANT GROUP: Small Hydro Division
DRAINAGE BASIN: Lake Huron
RIVER: South
NEAREST POPULATION CENTRE: Nipissing (2.4 KM (1.5 Miles) East)
IN SERVICE DATE: 1909
ACQUIRED BY HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER COMMISSION OF ONTARIO: 1916
FROM: Nipissing Power Company
Asset Transferred to Ontario Power Generation: April 1, 1999
NUMBER OF UNITS: 2
CONTROL: Northbury

HISTORICAL NOTE:
First electrical power available to the public on the east shores of Lake Nipissing was established in 1885. A steam engine, which operated a North Bay lumber mill, was hooked to an electric generator at night. This provided power for evening lighting only. The North Bay steam plant was destroyed by fire in 1893 and replaced by a larger station which suffered the same fate as its predecessor in 1923. However, this did not leave the district without a supply of electricity as a hydro-powered generating station had been built on the South River in 1909. It provided for additional power for growing demands and established a 24-hour supply of electricity.