P.E.I.'s electricity supply not keeping up with population growth, says utility

Maritime Electric, P.E.I.'s main electricity utility, told a standing committee Thursday that population growth is outpacing its capacity to keep up with supply.

The utility's CEOtold a standing committee Thursday that it's serving more customers than ever reaching a new threshold of 90,000 this year butpopulation growth is outpacing its abilityto provide electricity.

"I am concerned," said Jason Roberts, the president and CEO of Maritime Electric. "We need to start thinking about how we're using energy and when we're using energy."

Theutility told MLAs on the committee thatthe 2023 polar vortexwas a"canary in the coal mine," because it highlighted the extent to which extreme weather events can test the limits of P.E.I.'s energy system.

If the Island were to experience extended periods of similar cold weather in the future, Roberts said, "it could be a challenge" for the utility.

He said "the cold dark days of winter" will mean a rush of increased usage as homes fire up their heat pumps.

P.E.I. currently buys energy from off-Island, Roberts said, but increased consumption elsewhere in the region means neighbouring provinces have less energy available to share.

In addition, he added, planned power plant closures in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are set to exacerbate the problem in the near future.

P.E.I. 'over-electrifying,' MLA says

The utility's ability to deliver electricity is "really concerning," said Liberal MLA Robert Henderson.

He speculated that one source ofthe gap between energy capacity and demandis what he referred to as the"over-electrifying" of the Island.

P.E.I.'s main energy utility is worried about meeting the demand for electricity in the years ahead

16 days ago

Duration 1:56

Officials with Maritime Electric have told Prince Edward Island MLAs that the company is verging on not having enough electricity to go around. The utility warns those concerns will become especially pressing as during spells of extreme cold weather.

"The province and government has been wonderful in trying to increase the capacity of using electrification, so we've got all kinds of incentives [for] free heat pumps, electric vehicles, solar panels, all those things, but we're not putting a dime or any energies into handling the capacity of the delivery of electricity to Islanders," he said.

Henderson said the extreme cold snap last year put the energy system right at the edge, and the government needs to get aggressive to increase capacity.

As well as exploring solar and wind generation technology, Roberts said Maritime Electric is looking at supplementing the energy mix with technologies such as combustion turbines.He saidacquiring the combustion turbineswill take between two and three years if procurement is started soon.

In the meantime, he said the utility will have to rely on Islanders to use energy wisely.