Maritime Electric asking Islanders to conserve power as cold weather strains power supply
Peak energy times during 6-10 a.m. and 4-8 p.m.
Maritime Electric is asking Prince Edward Islanders to conserve electricity as colder-than-usual temperatures are putting significant pressure on the Island's energy supply.
CEO Jason Roberts said the utility is doing everything it can to maximize energy and electricity on the Island but hopes Islanders can also help, especially during peak usage times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
"If you're comfortable, turn your thermostat down a degree or two. A lot of people have converted to heat pumps, and they're using electricity for space heating right now. So if you can turn back the temperature a little bit for those few hours, we really appreciate it," he told CBC's Island Morning.
"Using dishwashers, ovens, washers, dryers, things like that, if you can put that off till later in the day. And if you have an electric vehicle, maybe you're not plugging in during those times as well. Just wait till overnight or midday."
Roberts said there are fuses in the system designed to handle overloads. If there's too much demand on a particular line, a fuse may trip, causing a short outage. Crews then need to either reset or replace the fuse to restore power. This process helps protect the system and limit widespread outages.
He mentioned an outage on Tuesday night in Oyster Bed and another ongoing outage as of 7 a.m. Wednesday in the Wellington area, affecting more than 200 customers. Crews have been on all night across the Island to respond to these situations.
Roberts said the company hasn't yet maxed out P.E.I.'s available electricity, but the current demand, driven by the cold weather, is higher than usual for this time of year.
Typically, when temperatures hit minus five to minus 10 degrees, demand reaches around 300 to 325 megawatts, but the grid is now running at about 355 megawatts, "which is uncomfortable for us," he said.
"We're trying to find the energy in all the places that we can, and we're working with our utilities on the mainland to make sure all the generation is running, and all the energy supplies available. But it's getting tight in the region for sure."
With files from Island Morning