Summerside businesses and facilities share residents' frustration over power disruptions

Summerside business owners and facility managers say disturbances caused by the city's power issues are causing frustration in the community. 

Water Street Bakery and Deli had to close on Monday due to a city-wide power outage, and will close again Thursday — partly because of the fear of rolling blackouts. 

"We threw out a whole rack of biscuits. We threw out a rack of cookies," said Bill Martin, the owner of the bakery and deli. 

"We bake all night, so there is 60 pieces of equipment… that require electricity, and when you have an entire night crew in here and you lose electricity, it can be fairly devastating."

Early Monday morning, a major outage across western P.E.I. left more than 19,000 customers without electricity due to damage at Maritime Electric's Sherbrooke substation, north of Summerside. Power was restored by midday, but the Island's power supply has remained unstable — particularly for P.E.I.'s second-largest city.

Rotational power outages lasting up to two hours might be necessary across Summerside Wednesday night if demand exceeds the grid's capacity, the city said in a news release earlier in the day.  

Changes to operations

Some businesses are doing what they can to try to avoid the impact of power outages.

Dairy processor ADL voluntarily switched to its own generator Tuesday night, saving the city about 650 kilowatts of electricity. That's enough to power 300 to 400 homes. 

But while a spokesperson said the company wants to do its part, ADL also said it cannot operate a 24/7 operation on a generator in the long term. 

City-operated Credit Union Place was shut down Monday and again during peak hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The sports and convention centre uses one megawatt of power, which is enough to power 350 homes, the facility said in a Facebook post Wednesday. 

"We don't take the decision lightly to… close down a facility, especially one with recreation and wellness," said Tanner Doiron, the event development and communications manager for the City of Summerside.

We don't want to do any of this, but we need to do what we can to reduce that pressure on our electrical load.— Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher

Some residents have questioned why the city shut the doors at Credit Union Place while other facilities continue to operate, Doiron said. 

"At the end of the day, we're looking out for the residents as a whole in the City of Summerside, so if keeping this place closed means keeping others safe — whether they be vulnerable or they need assistance with their homes and their power —- we'll do so and we'll play that part."

What's next? 

Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher said he feels the same frustration he's heard residents express. 

"We don't want to do any of this, but we need to do what we can to reduce that pressure on our electrical load," said Kutcher. 

Repairs on the damaged substation are underway, but Maritime Electric hasn't been able to indicate when those repairs will be done, the mayor said. 

"The whole approach that we have taken here is do everything to prepare for the worst. Hope for the best, but make sure that we're prepared as the situation changes."

While the city has a plan to ensure there won't be any significant damage if rolling blackouts do need to be implemented, it will still have a "huge impact," Kutcher said. 

"The reality is that the growth of electrification here in P.E.I. has created new pressures," he said. "We need to be able to catch up and keep up, and we cannot continue to operate with such a fragile system."