In the wake of the destruction of Hurricane Fiona last month, Maritime utilities would like to share the following updates with the public.

In the days since Hurricane Fiona, the PEI Energy Corporation (PEIEC) has begun the process of evaluating and quantifying the damage to solar and wind farms and infrastructure across Prince Edward Island. Based on these findings, a repair plan will be put in place.

PEIEC proactively paused all government-owned wind turbines late in the evening of September 23 as the winds were forecast to be well above maximum speed for wind turbine operation and power outages were expected to occur. Early indications show that wind turbines made it through the storm with minimal damage. 

The Slemon Park Microgrid Project did sustain damage to its 10-MW Solar Facility during Hurricane Fiona. While impacts to project budget and schedule are still being evaluated, it is now expected that full facility commissioning will extend into early summer of 2023.

Wind and solar power continue to be important components in PEI’s renewable energy portfolio and the PEI Energy Corporation will continue to ensure infrastructure is in good working order to support and bolster the Island’s energy grid.

– Prince Edward Island Energy Corporation

Saint John Energy is proud of the power-line technicians who answered the call to help our neighbouring utilities at NB Power, the City of Summerside, and Maritime Electric after Fiona left a path of destruction. Saint John Energy power-line technicians who are members of IBEW local 1524 returned safely home after being deployed for three weeks. We thank them for answering the call and to their families for being supportive.

– Ryan Shonaman, Executive Director of Operations at Saint John Energy

As the first major weather event to face our region since Dorian in 2019, many of us were anxiously watching the forecast for Fiona and making preparations for our response. We had a dedicated team behind the scenes tracking the expected path of impacts and coordinating our response well before the winds picked up. Our restoration efforts included over 700 people.

As the provincial energy company, our philosophy is to take care of our own customers first, but we also know how important mutual aid is in these emergency situations. We are proud to have provided support to our neighbouring provinces as their restoration efforts continued.

In the past 5 years, we have invested considerably in reliability to ensure our grid is able to withstand important weather events. This includes investing in our equipment and infrastructure, investing in technology to better predict outages and maintaining a robust tree trimming program. We will continue to prepare for extreme weather events to ensure we are able to provide safe and reliable electricity to our customers.

–        NB Power