Province plans pilot projects to help stabilize Island’s electrical grid, MLAs told [Video]

As recent power instability issues on Prince Edward Island bring attention to system shortcomings, the provincial government will be launching pilot projects aimed at better managing the electrical grid.

Homes and businesses in western P.E.I., and Summerside in particular, have been experiencing ongoing power issues this week due to damage at a Maritime Electric substation. 

P.E.I.’s second-largest city operates its own utility but relies on Maritime Electric to transmit supplemental power it buys from New Brunswick.

Islanders have been asked to conserve energy for three straight evenings, and on Thursday, Maritime Electric continues to ask customers across the Island to avoid using big appliances during peak hours.

Derek Ellis, the province’s director of sustainability, told the legislature’s standing committee on natural resources and environmental sustainability on Thursday that concerns about P.E.I.’s electricity grid have been a “hot topic.”

As more Islanders switch to electric heating and transportation, encouraged by government …