Facing sky-high connection fees, rural Ontarians go off the grid

When Craig Timmermans set out to build a new headquarters for his companies in northern Ontario, he reached out to the power company to find out how much it would charge him to connect to the grid.

He says he expected to pay a few thousand dollars, given that the nearest pole was across the street, about 45 metres away. He was shocked to find out it would cost $80,000.

“I thought that was just totally outrageous,” Timmermans told CBC News.

Hydro One, which distributes electricity for most rural customers in the province, eventually reduced the cost to $25,000. It was still too