The man who built power on the St. Lawrence River

A gifted and tireless communicator, the gregarious Saunders used his political acumen and powers of persuasion to finally get shovels into the ground for hydro development on the St. Lawrence River, which he saw as an integral part of the larger St. Lawrence Seaway Project. The venture had been talked about for 40 years but nothing came of it until Saunders arrived on the scene.

Saunders travelled throughout Ontario and the U.S. delivering speeches to promote the project. His hard work paid off when on June 7, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for construction to begin, which was to be jointly undertaken by Ontario Hydro and the New York Power Authority.

One month later, it was announced the Canadian section of the St. Lawrence Power Project would be named the “Robert H. Saunders St. Lawrence Generating Station.” This station, along with the American-operated Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project, would comprise the kilometre-long Moses- Saunders Power Dam, providing a combined output of 2,000 megawatts split between the New York and Ontario power systems.

Sadly, Saunders would not live to see his name on the station. On Jan. 14, 1955, the chairman and four others were returning to Toronto from Windsor when their ice-covered plane crashed near an airstrip in London. He died two days later of his injuries. He was only 51 years old.

The untimely death stunned Ontario, Canada and New York State. Thousands attended his funeral to pay tribute and in 1957 a memorial statue was unveiled in downtown Toronto in his honour.

Today, Saunders’ legacy lives on in the St. Lawrence. Sixty years after it first went into service, OPG’s Robert H. Saunders plant is still providing clean, renewable electricity for Ontarians. The 1,045 MW station produces enough power to meet the annual needs of about 600,000 homes.