Alectra's three Ontario batteries are in service at 80 MW and 320 MWh - the IESO term is 20 years, the budget is blank, and the boxes are not on a workplace meter
On 6 November 2026 the Ontario government said three batteries in Vaughan and Guelph are in service, adding 80 MW, with enough capacity to power roughly 80,000 homes at peak. Alectra's release the same day, on GlobeNewswire, prints 320 MWh, three street addresses and 20-year contracts with the IESO. Neither page prints a dollar budget, a contract rate or solar on these sites.
A factory in Vaughan that wants a battery beside its own meter does not get one from this ribbon cutting. The three new boxes sit on their own streets. They charge from the grid and sell the power back to the grid.
On 6 November 2026 the Ontario government said three battery projects are in service in Vaughan and Guelph. Together they add 80 megawatts. The page says that is enough to power roughly 80,000 homes during periods of peak demand. "Roughly" and "homes" are the government's line. A home is not a factory. The headline says the projects came in on time and on budget. The page does not print the budget.
The three projects, as that page lists them. Vaughan 3 Energy Storage 1 LP is 40 MW / 160 MWh in Vaughan. Vaughan 1E Energy Storage 1 LP is 20 MW / 80 MWh in Vaughan. Arlen Energy Storage 1 LP is 20 MW / 80 MWh in Guelph. Add the megawatts: 40 plus 20 plus 20 is 80, which the page also prints. Add the megawatt-hours: 160 plus 80 plus 80 is 320, our arithmetic. The government page does not print 320. Alectra's release the same day does. The facilities are lithium-ion. Alectra Energy Solutions delivered them. Its parent is Alectra Inc.
A megawatt is the width of the tap. A megawatt-hour is how much is in the tank. Divide each tank by its tap and each one is four hours, our arithmetic: 160 divided by 40, and 80 divided by 20. Neither page prints the words "four hours".
Alectra's release, carried on GlobeNewswire, is datelined 6 November 2026, 19:43 Eastern Time, from Vaughan. The web address carries 7 November. Alectra Energy Solutions built the boxes with Convergent Energy and Power. The release says all three are operational and add 320 MWh. In 2023 the two firms were awarded three contracts in the IESO's Expedited Long-Term 1 round. The boxes now run under 20-year contracts with the IESO. The IESO is the provincial grid operator. A 20-year contract is a long retainer. The release does not print the dollars per megawatt. The government page names the same procurement, says the government launched it in 2022, and does not print a term of years.
The streets and the wires are on the Alectra release, not on the government page. Vaughan 3 is at 6531 Rutherford Rd., connected at 27.6 kilovolts. Vaughan 1E is at 8118 Dufferin St., also at 27.6 kilovolts. Arlen is at 436 Clair Rd. W. in Guelph, connected at 13.8 kilovolts. A kilovolt is the pressure on the wire. These are grid connections. They are not a cable into a workshop.
Minister Stephen Lecce's line on the company release repeats the roughly 80,000 homes and says the projects were on time and on budget. He also says the batteries send off-peak nuclear power back to the grid at peak. That is a description of where the electricity can come from. It is not a solar array. Neither page names a solar plant on these three sites. The government page says the cost per kilowatt-hour is decreasing this winter, and that energy savings programs are expanding. No cent is printed. No program dollar is printed.
Alectra's about section says the wider company serves more than one million homes and businesses in 17 communities, and lists Solar Services among its products. That customer count is the utility. Solar Services is a product list. Neither line is a panel count on Rutherford Rd. Convergent's about section says its commercial, industrial and utility-scale assets can yield seven-figure savings, and that it has over $1bn invested in or committed to assets in operation or under development. "Can yield" is not a saving at these three sites. $1bn is the company's book, not the price of Vaughan 3. Convergent also says it has 15 years of experience. That is the firm. It is not a contract length for these boxes. The contract length the release does print is 20 years.
Other lines on the government page, kept as that page's lines. The three Alectra facilities account for 80 MW of the province's E-LT1 target. The E-LT1 round contracted roughly 880 MW of storage, and the page says that wave left the active battery fleet five times larger than its previous capacity. The government says it has secured nearly 3,000 MW of battery storage, and calls that the largest single battery storage procurement in Canadian history. Three years ago Ontario had 228 MW of energy storage, most of it at one pumped-storage plant. The IESO forecast on the page says electricity demand could rise by up to 90 per cent by 2050. Jason Fitzsimmons, the IESO chief executive, says more than 9,000 MW of new and re-contracted supply has been secured over the past five years. The City of Vaughan expects nearly 576,000 residents and more than 354,000 jobs by 2051. The City of Guelph expects its population to grow by 40 per cent over the next 30 years. Those are city and system lines. They are not a workplace quote.
A workplace battery already on this desk sits behind the meter at a Bowmanville cement plant: 50 MWh, megawatts blank, nothing due up front, and it charges from the grid. These three Ontario boxes are a different purchase. They face the IESO for 20 years. An Alberta note on this desk is one box of 80 MW / 160 MWh. The Ontario total is also 80 MW, spread over three sites, and the energy on the company release is 320 MWh. Same megawatt number. Different tank.
Analogy: three tanks on their own streets, filled when power is plentiful and emptied into the grid when demand is high. A warehouse meter is a different tap. The retainer is 20 years. The rate on the retainer is blank.
Good: Two dated pages, three named sites, 80 MW on the government page, 320 MWh and 20 years on the company page, streets and voltages kept on the page that prints them.
Bad: No budget, though both pages say on budget. No contract rate. No solar on these sites. Four hours is our division. The government page does not print 320 MWh. The 80,000 homes line is the government's. Seven-figure savings and $1bn are Convergent's company lines. The winter cent is blank.
Ugly: Reading 80 MW as a battery on a Vaughan factory. Pasting $1bn or a seven-figure saving onto one site. Treating Solar Services as panels at Rutherford Rd. Calling 80,000 homes the output of a workplace. Using the Alberta 80 MW / 160 MWh box as these three sites. Inventing a budget the pages do not print.
Soft next step: write 80 MW and 320 MWh as grid batteries on 20-year IESO contracts, and leave the dollar rate, the budget and the solar line blank.
Source: Ontario Newsroom, 6 Nov 2026, three storage projects in service. Primary for the 6 November date, Vaughan and Guelph, 80 MW, roughly 80,000 homes at peak, on time and on budget with no budget printed, Alectra Energy Solutions and parent Alectra Inc., the E-LT1 round launched in 2022, Vaughan 3 at 40 MW / 160 MWh, Vaughan 1E at 20 MW / 80 MWh, Arlen at 20 MW / 80 MWh, lithium-ion, 80 MW of the E-LT1 target, roughly 880 MW contracted, five times larger than the previous battery fleet, nearly 3,000 MW secured, 228 MW three years ago at mostly one pumped-storage plant, demand up to 90 per cent by 2050, more than 9,000 MW over five years in the Fitzsimmons quote, Vaughan at nearly 576,000 residents and more than 354,000 jobs by 2051, Guelph population up 40 per cent over 30 years, and a winter line that the cost per kilowatt-hour is decreasing with no cent printed. The page does not print 320 MWh, a term of years, street addresses, voltages, a contract rate or solar on these sites. Alectra Energy Solutions via GlobeNewswire, dateline 6 Nov 2026, 19:43 ET. Primary for the 6 November 19:43 ET dateline, the 7 November web address, Convergent Energy and Power, 320 MWh, the 2023 awards, 20-year IESO contracts, 6531 Rutherford Rd. at 27.6 kV, 8118 Dufferin St. at 27.6 kV, 436 Clair Rd. W. in Guelph at 13.8 kV, the Lecce line on off-peak nuclear, more than one million homes and businesses in 17 communities, Solar Services as a product line, seven-figure savings as a company line, over $1bn invested or committed, and 15 years for Convergent. 40 plus 20 plus 20, 160 plus 80 plus 80, 160 divided by 40, and 80 divided by 20 are our arithmetic. The government page does not print 320, and neither page prints "four hours".