P.E.I.'s West Prince towns may be heading to the light – sunlight and solar power, that is
Alison Jenkins · Journalist | Posted: March 24, 2021, 2:40 p.m. | Updated: March 24, 2021, 5:30 p.m. | 3 Min Read
Three Western P.E.I. towns are considering solar options for municipal assets, and they're not the only ones, said Maritime Electric. - Contributed
At least three municipalities in West Prince are considering solar power for some municipal assets.
Tignish, O'Leary and Alberton have all discussed switching some of their municipal operations over to the sunny renewable resource.
One installer said the timing for solar power is perfect.
"It really is coming into its own right now," said Chris Randall, owner of West Prince Solar Inc. "The price has gone where it needs to be, as far as buying the equipment. Energy isn't getting any cheaper, it just gets more expensive - here on the Island, especially,"
Randall has been a photo-voltaic contractor on P.E.I. for six years and is based in Alberton.
Chris Randall says the time is right for solar energy on P.E.I. Eric McCarthy 2014 file photo. - Eric McCarthy
"I've seen this coming up for a good long time. I have a background not only in electrical, but solar as well, and it's just a good fit," he said.
With the technology maturing into an affordable option, combined with federal and provincial rebates on solar setups, Randall decided to reach out to municipalities.
"Really what we're looking for is a community-owned asset that uses electricity - that's the basics of the whole thing," said Randall. "We're trying to match what they consume with what they can produce."
Randall sees a solar setup, or farm, as a way to turn monthly electrical payments into an investment.
"If you can spend the same amount of money that you're spending on electricity and you own your electricity, you're keeping that asset to yourself," he said.
Maritime Electric's spokesperson Kim Griffin said the three western P.E.I. towns aren't the only ones looking toward the sunlight. There are close to 10 municipalities considering a similar move.
"We've had a lot of our customers ask us, 'Is this viable?', 'Does it make sense?'" she said.
Kim Griffin shows one of Charlottetown's new green streetlights in this 2014 file photo. Dave Stewart file photo. - Dave Stewart
As a result, the utility approached Island municipalities in a virtual meeting to gauge their interest. Another meeting is planned for April to discuss the possibilities and potential collaborations.
"We're very much at the exploratory stage right now," said Griffin. "Every single municipality is probably looking at something a little bit different, but the one common theme is, they want the best cost for solar. So, what is the way to do it so we can give green energy to customers and what is the way to do that's the most cost-effective?"
Maritime Electric is connected to solar experts who work under the parent company Fortis' umbrella.
"There's a ton of experts in the area of solar that we can use to help us," said Griffin.
Maritime Electric is already involved in renewable electricity on P.E.I. The company purchases almost all the wind power generated on P.E.I. which supplies around 25 per cent of the Island's energy needs. It's also installing more electric vehicle charging stations across the province.
"It's a really interesting time. I think people really want to, as well as our company, want to look at things that are even greener," said Griffin. "It's pretty exciting, actually."
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