Summerside residents looking for clean, reliable electricity system to replace diesel generators | CBC News
Summerside residents had the opportunity to share their opinions on what they want the city’s future electricity system to look like.
About 25 community members were at Credit Union Place Wednesday night to participate in the city’s public information session. They were asked to share what they would prioritize most about the city’s system.
Right now, Summerside is looking at bringing in hydrogen-generated electricity to replace six aging diesel generators and meet the current and growing demand for electricity.
Many residents shared important things they would want the system to have, such as a reliable and secure grid and clean energy.
Steve Savage, who has been living in Summerside since October, said he wants to see a shift away from fossil fuels, but believes it should be done “sensibly.”
“Green is good and, to an extent, innovation,” he said. “But we’re a small community here, so bold innovation is maybe something we shouldn’t be dabbling in because if it doesn’t work out as well as it should, it’s an expensive lesson for a small community to make.”
Summerside Electric supplies electricity to roughly 8,300 customers across Summerside. The electricity is generated locally through a mix of diesel generators, wind farms, solar power and battery energy storage systems.
Exploring all possible options
Greg Gaudet, the city’s director of municipal services, said Summerside is looking at many options to transition away from diesel, including developing a hydrogen fuel source that can be used to generate electricity when needed.
Island Morning7:28Summerside discusses switching its backup electricity generation to hydrogen
Summerside is in discussions with the province and Ottawa to bring hydrogen-generated electricity to the Island. We speak with Mayor Dan Kutcher, who wants to replace about half a dozen diesel generators with a hydrogen electrolyzer that creates fuel by splitting water molecules.
Dunsky Energy and Climate Advisors has been retained to help the city find alternatives to replace the generators.
Lauren McNutt, a managing consultant with Dunsky, said while hydrogen is one option, other alternatives are also under consideration, including liquid natural gas, ethanol and methanol.
McNutt said it was important to get the community’s perspectives before moving forward with a plan for the system because electricity is part of people’s everyday lives.
“We really now want to hear what is important to the community, what they prioritize,” she said. “Because we’ll be using that as part of our assessment when we’re comparing new alternatives to replace these diesel generators.”
Next steps
Looking ahead, Dunsky will now consider community members’ feedback and perspectives during the next phase of the project.
McNutt said an economic and technical assessment of the different alternatives will be conducted. Afterwards, a second public engagement session will be held to present preliminary findings and recommendations, and get the community’s input before the information goes to the city.
Gaudet said the goal is to have the second public information session in April, and he said it’s great to be at the stage where the community is involved in the project.
“This is a logical next step for the community to diversify our electricity sources and reliability in the community,” said Gaudet. “I’m really excited about the process and look forward to its final solution.”
Savage said he doesn’t know if a definitive answer will be given at the following information session. Still, he wouldn’t be upset if there weren’t one.
“This is a big step to take,” he said. “We need to take our time so that we are right — but not too much time. I mean, let’s keep a deadline there.”
