04-01 PEI

Only in Canada or only in Prince Edward Island? It was 1976, and I put a call to the Premier of PEI for a meeting, and Premier Alex Campbell answered the phone himself. “Come down”, he said. “and join with me and the full cabinet for a lobster lunch.” And that is what happened.
What was so interesting at the time was that the government of PEI under Campbell’s leadership was promoting renewable energy and self-sufficiency decades ahead of the rest of Canada.
It started with the OPEC oil embargoes of 1973 and 1974 and crude oil prices jumping from roughly $3 a barrel to $12 a barrel, and PEI paying the highest prices.
The Premier had created the Institute of Man and Resources and wanted his province to be a laboratory for renewable energies. I visited one of his futuristic homes that had a wind turbine, solar panels, massive insulation, a newly designed wood stove, a fish tank for tilapia and a greenhouse for vegetables fertilized by water full of tilapia poo.
And along the dining and living room walls were benches that hid the batteries that stored the energy produced by the solar panels and the wind turbine. It was a far-out educational experience.
The young engineer serving as my personal guide said that neither solar nor wind technologies could compete with fossil fuel powered electricity generated on the island. And as we all know today, who could have predicted the changes in crude oil prices or in solar and wind technology.
What was of interest at the time was his belief that the future for PEI would be in wind energy because of the natural winds that whip across the Island. He told me that the winds for generating electricity are normally steadier out on the ocean. But that on PEI steady supplies of wind can be found at numerous island locations.
Today, PEI has eight wind farms that feed power into the provinces electrical grid which provides about 30 percent of the provinces electrical power. In simple terms wind powers up about 22, 000 homes.
Five years ago, I visited one of these farms, and the sound was deafening. So, obviously these wind turbines are not located where people live. But it is an important new industry with community colleges providing new courses in wind technologies.
My other personal experience was holidaying in Maui, Hawaii where they had just competed construction of a major wind power generating facility. And to my surprise, the big issue was not about replacing fossil fuels, but about the death of “hoary bats” which were being killed from flying into the propellers.