Wind Project Benefits Entire Community

Summerside, which used to import all of its energy from outside the province, now has one of the highest integrations of wind in North America.

Saint John Energy is one of a number of municipal utilities in Atlantic Canada pursuing ambitious plans for a green energy future, with wind power a focus of many communities’ initiatives. In Saint John, the Burchill Wind Energy Project, which is being built in Spruce Lake Industrial Park, will provide up to 42 megawatts of clean, affordable energy to Saint John homes and businesses.

The project was inspired and informed, in part, by other communities, including Summerside, P.E.I. In this post, Greg Gaudet, Summerside’s director of municipal services, describes the benefits his community has enjoyed from its wind energy initiative, including rate stability, energy security, tax revenues, economic development and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

By Greg Gaudet, November 22, 2019

“Summerside, which used to import all of its energy from outside the province, now has one of the highest integrations of wind in North America.”

In 2005, Summerside city council released an ambitious strategic plan that included a goal to create a green electrical utility. It was a big, bold idea, one that set us on a path towards sustainability that’s transformed not only our power supply but the broader community, generating benefits for customers, taxpayers, businesses, the environment and more.

In 2009, Summerside Electric built The Summerside Wind Farm, a four-turbine, 12-megawatt project that today generates nearly half our power. Summerside, which used to import all of its energy from outside the province, now has one of the highest integrations of wind in North America.

We’ve also got solar generation, thermal storage and a host of related research and business opportunities, as well as cheap power rates and a great source of revenue for our community.

Here’s a look at some of the spinoffs we’ve seen from our wind and related renewable projects.

Customers

Summerside’s Heat For Less Now program offers an aggressive rate incentive to customers who use renewable energy to heat their hot water and homes. Subscribers pay eight cents per kilowatt-hour versus 14 cents for those not in the program.

“Customer feedback has been really positive, largely because it’s risk-free. We guarantee the rate for five years.”

The program uses high-efficiency hot-water heaters and furnaces to store excess wind energy as heat. We’ve had customers tell us they’ve turned off their heaters before leaving for vacation, returned home a week later and had a hot shower before realizing the heater was still off.

For a typical home, the up-front cost is $8,000-$10,000, with an average return on investment of five years. Along with a quick payoff, they reap the benefits of reduced energy pricing for the 20-year life of the product. Not bad!

Customer feedback has been really positive, largely because it’s risk-free. We guarantee the rate for five years. So far, in the eight years of the program, rates have not gone up. And not only are we able to offer cheaper rates, but the CO2 reductions are also significant, as we transition customers from furnace oil and other greenhouse-gas emitting sources to clean, green wind energy.

Environment

Before we got into wind power, Summerside was 100% reliant on imported electricity, some of it generated by burning coal or oil. Now 46% of our power comes from our wind farm. Our carbon footprint is half of what it used to be and we’ve cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 21,000 tonnes a year. And we’re not stopping there: our goal is to generate 65% of our community’s power through renewables such as wind and solar.

Community Assets

The City of Summerside makes a profit off the power generated by the wind farm, which it built and owns, by selling it to our utility. These revenues benefit taxpayers, as the municipality has been able to hold its tax rate steady and still invest in the community, helping them to build things that may not otherwise have been possible, such as Credit Union Place, a 3,500-seat double rink, NHL-style stadium with an Olympic pool, convention centre, and more.

Economic Development

In Summerside, we’ve used our wind farm and green energy initiatives to attract different types of businesses to innovate here.

“When you get into producing energy, it starts moving the community in a different way...it gets you thinking in a more life-cycle, sustainable way.”

Startups often struggle to find test sites and partners. We wanted to remove those barriers by providing access to municipal infrastructure and expertise. Our Living Lab invites business, government and researchers to test prototypes in a real-world setting.

This approach has fostered a broader spirit of collaborative entrepreneurship beyond the energy sector, with the municipality working with startups in other sectors to test and validate great ideas.

Thinking Bigger

When you get into producing energy, it starts moving the community in a different way. You start being more efficient because you better understand what it takes to generate that power. You try to maximize what you have. You start being passionate and aggressive. And it gets you thinking in a more life-cycle, sustainable way. And you start to wonder what else is out there.

For Summerside, wind energy was just the beginning.

Greg Gaudet is Municipal Services Director for the City of Summerside.

As Director of Municipal Services, Greg brings 29 years of engineering experience and expertise to the City of Summerside. In this role, Greg directs capital projects and all operations aspects of the infrastructure for the City of Summerside municipal government including its electric, water and sewer utilities, storm drainage, and roadways.

Prior to joining City of Summerside, Greg held positions as microelectronics board designer, project engineer on large scale projects and consulting engineering in design and construction.

Currently, Greg is working towards the local integration of renewable energy and implementation of a smart grid as part of the Summerside MyPowerNet initiative. Greg holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from the University of New Brunswick in the electrical discipline.