(Photo courtesy of Bruce Power)(Photo courtesy of Bruce Power)
Midwestern

Bulk of area residents support possible Bruce Power expansion: poll

If a poll is any indication, the community is squarely in favour of a potential expansion at Bruce Power.

Ipsos conducted the poll by telephone from September 26 to October 18 on behalf of Canada's only private sector nuclear generator. More than 560 residents in Bruce, Grey, and Huron counties took part in the survey with 80 per cent voicing support of the proposal to advance long-term planning and consultation work on nuclear expansion options at Bruce Power.

Support for upgrading and refurbishing existing nuclear power plants to meet the province's future electricity needs came in at 86 percent, with more than half of respondents saying they 'strongly support' the move.

The Ipsos poll also found 93 per cent of those asked view Bruce Power as a good community citizen. The same number stated they have confidence that the company operates safely, while 92 per cent agreed the company is involved with the community in a positive way.

The overall number of residents who said they are "very familiar" with Bruce Power jumped from 80 per cent last year to 85 per cent this year.

“Understanding the opinions and priorities of our community is essential to make sure we’re doing the right things and sharing the right information,” Bruce Power Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice-President James Scongack said in a statement. “Knowing that our community has confidence in our ability to operate the site safely and protect the environment tells us that we’re on the right track and earning the community support that is so important to Bruce Power."

He added that the company doesn't take that support for granted.

"We work as hard as we can every day to earn people’s confidence," said Scongack.

The Ipsos poll has a margin of error within 4.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had all adults in all three counties been polled.

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