Maritime Electric unveils wide-ranging plan to protect P.E.I.'s power grid as the climate changes

Maritime Electric has released a sweeping set of strategies that it says will help protect Prince Edward Island's electrical grid against future climate-related hazards.

The electric utility's 75-page Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, released on Thursday, comes in the wake of a 2022 risk assessment spurred by post-tropical storm Dorian in 2019. 

When Fiona struck the Island in September 2022, leaving tens of thousands of customers without power for days, further questions were raised about how well the province's main electrical grid could withstand severe weather in the future. 

"The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are expected to increase in the future due to climate change," reads the report's executive summary. 

"Maritime Electric is committed to plan for and adapt to the changing regional climate to maintain reliable electricity service for customers." 

The climate adaptation document lays out 17 strategies across Maritime Electric's operations. 

It also outlines some options the utility won't be exploring despite those post-Fiona concerns, like installing steel poles for power lines everywhere on the Island or burying all new lines underground. 

The report says Maritime Electric uses steel poles in some areas like river crossings where wood poles can't be installed.

But it points out that those poles are more expensive to buy and less versatile. 

"Adding lines and attachments is more complex and performing live line work is more challenging for steel poles compared to wood poles," the report states.

"Also, wood poles are more environmentally friendly, and can last just as long."  

Maritime Electric says there are ways to add extra guy-line support to poles to give them more strength when severe winds blow trees down onto nearby lines. 

When it comes it underground power lines, the document does outline some benefits — like improved reliability and less need for tree trimming — but it says buried lines are more expensive and can pose other problems. 

"Underground power lines can also have longer restoration times if outages occur, are difficult to inspect, require outages when connecting new customers, are more difficult to upgrade for load growth, and can be prone to flooding in coastal or low-lying areas," the report reads.