P.E.I. has to look after itself as competition for clean energy increases, energy minister says

P.E.I.'s Energy Minister Steven Myers says the province needs to do everything it can to mitigate the loss of a cheaper, cleaner source of energy for the Island.

Last week, the Nova Scotia government announced it will abandon plans for the so-called Atlantic Loop, which would have brought hydroelectric power from Quebec into the region.

The Nova Scotia government saidthe project was too expensive at a cost of $9 billion.

Myers said he is disappointed the federal government did not do more to make the project a reality.

P.E.I. needs to do whatever it can to look after its own energy needs, he said.

"I think it's going to become very competitive, the energy supplies on the open market here in Atlantic Canada and elsewhere. So we have to look after ourselves."

Myers said a team was in Germany recently to look at different ways to store energy.

A substantial shift to heat pumps and electric cars helps move the province toward its goal of net zero energy by 2030, and a more ambitious goal of net-zero emissions by 2040, but it also puts more strain on the electrical grid.

"It's either going to cost us more, or we are going to have to move our feet faster," said Myers. "We have obviously been working on a wind farm in Eastern Kings for five years now. That process is too long.

"We made regulatory changes that will enable us to move these things a little bit quicker, there are two other wind farms on the books, that are coming down the line really, really fast, that will provide a lot more energy to our grid so we need to be continually moving to get on-Island generation."

He said in addition to on-Island generation, New Brunswick's decision to build small nuclear reactors will help the Island meet its future energy needs.

Those reactors are expected to be in place by 2035.