• Summerside won't have battery storage for its solar power this winter after Sunbank fire

  Source: Prince Edward Island - Regional News
  Date: 2026-10-30 19:32:11.0
  Tags: [Prince Edward Island, Municipal, Energy, Infrastructure, Environment]

  Following a battery fire at the Sunbank solar farm in September that burned for two weeks, the City of Summerside will enter the winter season lacking 5 megawatts of dispatchable battery storage capacity. Summerside Electric, which generates roughly 60 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources, has secured a conditional firm service agreement with Maritime Electric to help bridge the energy gap, alongside utilizing its 15-megawatt standby generation facility. The city faces ongoing provincial energy challenges tied to mainland transmission infrastructure and submarine cables, prompting long-term considerations for energy independence and grid resiliency.

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• Conditions have improved, but fire still not out at Summerside solar farm, says city's CAO

  Source: Prince Edward Island - Regional News
  Date: 2026-09-09 09:35:25.0
  Tags: [Prince Edward Island, Municipal, Energy, Emergency, Environment, Infrastructure]

  A prolonged fire at the City of Summerside's Sunbank solar farm battery bank, which began on Monday, September 7, 2026, continues to burn under monitoring by Summerside Fire Services and Summerside Police Services using drone thermal imaging. While conditions and wind directions have improved, allowing the city to avoid a mandatory shelter-in-place order, a voluntary shelter-in-place order remains in effect for the immediate area. Local schools and Credit Union Place remain closed as third-party firms conduct air quality sampling and officials analyze drinking water and runoff samples.

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