Rankin Inlet ‘coping well’ with 2-week energy conservation efforts: SAO
Qulliq Energy Corp. asking people to limit power use while it fixes a generator issue in the community
Technical problems with the power plant in Rankin Inlet have led to a request from Qulliq Energy Corp. for people in the hamlet to cut their energy use. That hasn’t been a problem, according to senior administrative officer Darren Flynn. (File photo)
People in Rankin Inlet are being asked to conserve their energy until Feb. 24, but that doesn’t appear to be causing a big issue in the community.
Hamlet senior administrative officer Darren Flynn told Nunatsiaq News on Wednesday he believes people have been amenable to conservation efforts.
“I think the community’s coping well,” he said.
Qulliq Energy Corp. asked people in Rankin Inlet to limit their power use for two weeks in a Feb. 9 public service announcement because it needs to make emergency repairs to its generator engines.
The announcement asks people to lower their thermostats to 20 C and avoid using high-energy appliances, such as stoves and dryers, until 7 p.m.
QEC didn’t offer any more details about the situation and declined a request for an interview.
Flynn said 5 p.m. is usually the peak energy time for the hamlet, when everyone is coming home and starting up their appliances. That’s why the energy corporation is asking people to wait until 7 p.m.
“I think people have been doing that,” Flynn said.
He added that unusually warm weather has helped with conservation efforts. Temperatures have been hovering at around -18 C or warmer, although the forecast predicts a cold snap starting Wednesday.
Flynn said he spoke to the president of QEC about the situation last week and learned that three of five generator units are functioning well. One of the two units currently out of commission could be back up by Friday.
“I think they’ll be back to pretty normal operations by the weekend,” Flynn said.
In terms of the hamlet itself, he said most of its building energy consumption is mechanical and not as affected by the need to conserve power.
Rankin Inlet resident Qalujjaq Komaksiutiksak, who works at the snowmobile repair and service store Combustion Rankin, said neither his work nor his home life have been affected by the request to conserve power.
“I do everything by hand,” he said.
“I don’t use any fancy technology that needs power other than a welder every once in a while.”
Could this have not been better planned in summer or warmer weather spring or fall when everyone uses much less energy?
Umm… “emergency repairs”
This was not foreseeable?
No
I agree with Hard to Predict! Tomorrow may never be mine.
How is bad gasoline not a topic? I lost some old school snowmobiles and old school 300 honda and some 500 Hondas to bad gas I bought from the gas station.