Copyright Kingstonist
The Town of Greater Napanee Council was abuzz with discussion during their recent Regular Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. Aside from an agenda full of noteworthy items, Council received deputations from Atura Power regarding Napanee BESS Phase 2 and representatives from the Napanee Raiders regarding revenue-sharing. As many may remember, Council recently received a deputation from a company named Boralex looking for municipal support for their battery energy storage system (BESS) project. Following this deputation, municipal support was granted for that particular BESS project. Like Boralex, Atura Power has already requested — and received — Council support for its own BESS at Napanee Generating Station. The latest request from Atura Power on October 28 is one of several across the province in response to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) issuing a request for proposals in order to secure new electricity resources. “Based on IESO statistics, the province expects that energy demands in Ontario will grow 20 per cent by 2050,” said Darius Sokal, Senior Communications and Stakeholder Relations Advisor for Atura, explaining the IESO’s request. The Napanee BESS Phase 2 would build upon Phase 1. The existing BESS was granted approval by the IESO in 2023. According to Brad Kyte, Senior Manager of Business Development with Atura, the addition would add 300 MW of capacity with a duration of eight hours. Phase 2, as with Phase 1, will be within the Lennox Generating Station site. In detailing their community outreach efforts, Sokal stated, “notices were hand delivered to 22 residents east and west of the proposed facility.” Neighbours expressed overwhelming support, said Sokal, with only one household expressing reservations. Assuming municipal support is granted by the Town, successful bids will be announced by June 16, 2026. Construction of the Napanee BESS Phase 2 will take approximately two years, with the facility intended to be operational by 2030. Council also received a deputation from Max Kaiser, executive board member of the Napanee Raiders, the local Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) team. Kaiser presented council with a revenue-sharing opportunity from board advertisements at the Goodyear Rink in the Best and Bash Arena. Kaiser brought forward the idea of revenue sharing as a “targeted strategy to offset the new cost of streaming games.” With origins reaching as far back as the 1960s, the Raiders are Napanee’s only junior hockey team. Their fan base spans generations, with Friday night games well-attended by all ages. Recently, as per Kaiser, the Provincial Junior Hockey League mandated that all games need to be streamed live. Enabling this resulted in unforeseen costs for the team. The revenue sharing strategy proposed by Kaiser represents an “investment in community without burdening the taxpayer.” “The Napanee Raiders are a community-run team with no benefactor,” stated Kaiser. “Costs continue to rise, yet we strive to keep our ticket prices low, thereby maintaining a strong fan base and providing excellent sports entertainment.” Kaiser also noted that, aside from home games attracting 500 attendees per game, playoffs usually garner upwards of 1,000 attendees. “While the Raiders enjoy some benefits from the Town, we do not feel those are out of the ordinary, especially when compared with other teams in our league,” he said. Unlike neighbouring junior hockey team rinks, the ads at the Goodyear Rink, as per Kaiser, are priced well below market value. “We are suggesting it’s time for the Town to consider raising rates for ads and sharing the increase only,” said Kaiser. In speaking to Council, Kaiser listed beneficial arrangements between similar local hockey teams and their home rinks. “Picton and Wellington in Prince Edward County both have junior hockey teams with exclusive rights to advertising in their arenas,” he explained, adding, “compared to our local competitor teams, Napanee charges similarly for ice time and provides similar benefits, but there is a significant deviation when it comes to how board ad revenue is shared or not.” With more revenue generated by these ads, Kaiser described a “trickle-down effect” that would benefit all users of the rink. Currently, the Raiders’ revenue is limited to fees collected at the gates during games and from fundraising. “We have endeavoured to keep gate rates low to keep the fan base strong,” added Kaiser. Mayor Terry Richardson expressed that he was surprised there was not already the ability to live-stream games from the arena. Kaiser explained that while the Town has an internet line connected to the arena, a dedicated connection for the Raiders was necessary to ensure adequate bandwidth. He also noted that up until the installation of the new internet at the arena, the Raiders had games streamed by tethering a hotspot from a phone, a setup he described as not ideal. After hearing the deputation from the Raiders, Council directed staff to return with a report regarding the revenue-sharing request.
