PEIMaritime Electric has amended an application before the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission to spend close to half a billion dollars to boost electricity generation on Prince Edward Island.Critics say there are cheaper alternatives that won’t increase P.E.I.’s emissionsKerry Campbell · CBC News · Posted: Aug 20, 2025 12:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoThe need to boost the supply of electricity available to power Prince Edward Island homes and businesses through the winter has become even more urgent, Maritime Electric said in a filing to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission. (Kirk Pennell/CBC)Maritime Electric has amended an application before the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission to spend close to half a billion dollars to boost electricity generation on Prince Edward Island.The utility says prices have risen since it prepared its initial cost estimate, submitted last December, while the need to boost the supply of electricity available to power Island homes and businesses through the winter has become even more urgent.Initially the utility said it wanted to spend $427 million to build 150 MW of generating capacity on P.E.I., most of that powered by fossil fuels rather than renewable sources of energy.But in a filing on Aug. 14, the utility told IRAC it had received a “time-sensitive” offer to join with NB Power to secure two 50 MW combustion turbines to be installed in Charlottetown at a cost of $334 million.Maritime Electric says it has a ‘time-sensitive’ offer to join up with NB Power to secure two 50 MW combustion turbines to be installed in Charlottetown by 2028. (Michael Heenan/CBC)The utility said it would still need to build a further 50 MW of generation capacity, meaning the total bill would in all likelihood exceed the initial $427-million estimate.The company has said that initial cost would push up electricity rates by 10 per cent, although detailed information on the impact on rates has been kept confidential so far. It was submitted to IRAC but not made public.Customer load topped maximum 6 times so far this yearIn an April filing with IRAC, Maritime Electric highlighted what it called the “urgent need” to move forward with the project.Before 2025, the filing said, there was only a single day on which the utility’s customer load exceeded 326 MW. That’s the maximum the company says it can supply without having to rely on wind, solar or additional non-firm energy from NB Power that might not always be available when it’s needed.That peak of 359 MW occurred during a polar vortex in 2023, when the temperature dropped to –23.8 C. So far in 2025, the utility said in April, peak load exceeded 326 MW six times, and at significantly warmer temperatures than that 2023 level. Maritime Electric says a polar vortex this winter similar to the one in 2023 would result in peak demand of 391 MW, which it would be unable to satisfy. This urgency is driven by the increasing customer reliance on electricity for space heating.— Maritime ElectricPart of the reason: the province’s push to have more Islanders switch from oil furnaces to heat pumps.”This urgency is driven by the increasing customer reliance on electricity for space heating, which exposes them to health and safety risks should Maritime Electric be unable to supply sufficient energy during system peak periods,” the utility wrote in its submission.In his own comments submitted to IRAC, Roger King, who chaired a commission a decade ago looking at P.E.I.’s electrical grid, called Maritime Electric’s application “a major ‘wake-up’ call… a clear signal and a warning statement that P.E.I. electricity demand is exceeding supply.”King called on the province to end incentive programs for electrification as one of the steps required to bring supply and demand back into balance.For years, the P.E.I. government has been providing incentives for Islanders to switch from oil-based heat sources to electric heat pumps, including providing free heat pumps to eligible households. (Shane Hennessey/CBC )The P.E.I. government has for years been providing incentives for Islanders to switch from oil-based heat sources to electric heat pumps, in some cases providing free heat pumps to households with a combined income of up to $129,000.Most of P.E.I.’s electricity comes from off-Island via four undersea cables in the Northumberland Strait. Two of those were built in 1977, and the federal government said in 2015 that those were nearing the end of their life cycle. Two additional cables came into service in 2017.Company asked to negotiate with governmentBefore amending its application to include the joint procurement proposal with NB Power, Maritime Electric asked IRAC for permission to begin settlement negotiations with the province, through the P.E.I. Energy Corporation. But that provincial Crown corporation responded by saying it doesn’t believe a negotiated settlement is the way forward, and that it wants to see an analysis to consider other options.An agreement between the two sides, like one reached on electricity rates in 2023, would lead to a new joint proposal being put forward for approval by IRAC.Maritime Electric has amended an application before IRAC to spend close to half a billion dollars to boost electricity generation on the Island. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)A negotiated settlement could also lead to the province picking up some of the cost. Even without a negotiated settlement, the province has said it may foot part of the bill.The P.E.I. Energy Corporation didn’t provide details on what types of alternatives it wants Maritime Electric to consider before moving ahead. In a statement, the corporation told CBC News it has “encouraged Maritime Electric to amend their application to include any potential solutions that would be in the best interest for Island ratepayers.” When asked if the latest proposal meets that bar, the corporation responded that it’s “committed to supporting reliable power for all Islanders while trying to balance the impact on the ratepayers. We will let the regulator do its job and will be ready to intervene when appropriate.”Another group seeking to intervene on the file has been more clear about the kinds of alternatives it wants to see.”These projects have the potential to substantially increase greenhouse gas emissions on the grid and could increase costs to ratepayers despite the existence of cheaper and more sustainable dispatchable capacity resources,” the Ecology Action Centre out of Halifax wrote to IRAC as it applied to be named an intervenor in the case.”The facts we intend to present relate to alternatives to diesel peaker plants, including grid scale battery storage, overbuilding of wind energy assets, and additional demand response programs” to encourage Islanders to reduce their electricity consumption, the group wrote in its submission.IRAC denied EAC’s application for intervenor status, saying the group had missed the application deadline.Winter heating ‘will be increasingly difficult,’ utility saysLast December Maritime Electric provided a timeline of three to five years to bring the new power online. Now the company says this new proposal amounts to the only way to add electrical capacity before 2030. The two 50 MW turbines are scheduled to be operational by the summer of 2028.”Without the support of this fast-acting generation, meeting winter peak requirements, including this upcoming season, will be increasingly difficult,” the utility wrote to Energy Minister Gilles Arsenault in a letter dated July 17.”The risk of rotating power outages is very high as winter temperatures will not have to drop to the levels of the 2023 polar vortex to experience the same system loading.”ABOUT THE AUTHORKerry Campbell is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC P.E.I., covering politics and the provincial legislature. He can be reached at: kerry.campbell@cbc.ca.Kerry Campbell – recent articles
Citing rising costs and need, Maritime Electric amends its $427M fossil fuel generator plan
