City of Summerside's months-long power struggle is far from over, says mayor

Summerside's mayor says the city's electricity challenges are far from resolved.

P.E.I.'s second-largest city, which operates its own utility, faced a series of power disruptions this winter.

Summerside Electric generates about 60 per cent of its electricity through renewable sources like solar and wind, but it still relies on Maritime Electric's transmission grid for power that the smaller utility buys from New Brunswick.

A failure at Maritime Electric's Sherbrooke substation, located just north of the city, led to significant power challenges in February. As a result, residents were asked to conserve electricity and a mobile transformer had to be brought in from Newfoundland to stabilize the system.

"The Band-Aid has been put on, and the temporary transformer on wheels is there, and things are in place," Mayor Dan Kutcher told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.

"But the fundamentals still need fixing."

Kutcher said he has not yet had meeting he was promised with P.E.I. Energy Minister Gilles Arsenault and Maritime Electric officials.

But he said the city has had discussions with Arsenault and was told that a meeting would take place after the spring sitting of the P.E.I. Legislature. As of Friday morning, the MLAs were still on the job at the Legislative Assembly in Charlottetown. 

The city has also met at the executive level with Maritime Electric, he added.

Come wintertime, we're gonna be vulnerable again... We can't be going through that time and again. Energy security is paramount to everything.— Dan Kutcher

"We do know that come wintertime, we're gonna be vulnerable again. And I would also say that we have some concerns as well with Maritime Electric. There are joint concerns... some are on-Island and some are off-Island.

"So it's really important that we get to the table and figure out a clear path because we can't be going through that time and again. Energy security is paramount to everything."

CBC News asked for comment on Kutcher's concerns from both Maritime Electric and the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action. 

The latter replied with a one-line statement saying: "Grid stability is front of mind for the province, and we still plan to arrange a meeting with the minister, City of Summerside and Maritime Electric to discuss further."

Review of grid is coming

The power struggle in Summerside was also raised in the provincial legislature last month, with MLAs from all three parties expressing concern.

Arsenault has said in the past that a review aimed at improving the reliability and affordability of Prince Edward Island's energy grid would be released this month.

The minister also confirmed the province's energy system blueprint will be released later this year, setting out a "comprehensive strategy" for the next 10 years.