1. Design with Community in Mind
Seeing the big picture
Julie Bunker (Calgary, Alberta) learned early the value
of balance. “My dad was like a mini David Suzuki,” she
says. “He taught me that clean air, fresh water, and
fertile land are essential to grow the food we need
and that this food directly impacts the health of our
workforce, which ultimately impacts our economy.”
Julie now uses her big-picture view to help clients like
NB Power make business sense out of sustainability.
“I’ve always had a passion for finding more sustainable
and efficient ways to do things. That’s what drew me to
the electricity industry, which hasn’t changed much in
100 years, even though the way we use electricity has
changed completely. As a big advocate for renewable
energy, I see so many opportunities to help our clients
adapt to these changes.”
So when Julie was asked to provide project
management support to the PowerShift Atlantic
(PSA) project, she leapt at the chance. The project was
exciting, innovative, cutting edge—and critical. A lot
was riding on PSA’s success.
Out of great challenges come great solutions
When PSA launched, NB Power’s operations were
struggling, shareholder and public confidence was
eroding, and a potential sale to Hydro-Québec was
looming. Other Maritime utilities, including Maritime
Electric Company Ltd., Nova Scotia Power, and Saint
John Energy, also needed to modernize, but being
small-scale, they had limited resources to invest.
So NB Power created a consortium composed of these
utilities, the system operator, and the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University
of New Brunswick. Their solution? Conduct a
research and demonstration project of new smart
grid technology that would more efficiently balance
commercial and residential electrical loads with the
wind power being generated and brought onto the
grid from wind farms across the province. (In New
Brunswick, utilities must buy this wind power as part
of the province’s initiative to capture more renewable
energy and reduce greenhouse gases.)
“Wind power wasn’t integrated properly onto the
utility system or grid,” Julie explains. “But instead of
scrapping it altogether, the consortium said, ‘We need
to find better ways to integrate this because renewable
energy is the future.’ ”
Their positive approach and excitement inspired
Julie—especially since it was coming from an area
by Nerys Parry

2. of the country traditionally perceived to be slower
moving. “All of a sudden, these Maritime provinces
were trying something innovative,” says Julie. Being
something of a Maritimer herself—Julie spent every
summer at her grandparent’s New Brunswick cottage—
she couldn’t help but share some regional pride.
Clearing the hurdles
Despite the buzz surrounding the project, it was no
slam dunk. For one thing, the technology was new.
“The utility, like many other businesses, is very risk
averse,” Julie says. “But in a research and development
project like PSA, you have to allow for some failures.
But we learned from them and built something more
successful.”
For another thing, the partnership was not traditional:
“The four utilities had worked together before but
were competitive with each other by nature of their
business. Plus we had industry players, manufacturers,
and academia,” Julie says. “But with the right
leadership in place, everyone agreed on the goals and
worked toward achieving them. The collaboration I
saw between these varied players was incredible.”
Lastly, the consortium needed customer buy-in. Most
energy efficiency and conservation programs focus
on convincing customers to reduce their electrical
loads by voluntarily changing their behavior—shorten
showers, turn off lights, run appliances at only
certain times of the day, purchase energy-efficient
appliances and products. PSA, by contrast, proposed
that customers let the utility control their loads using
technology, without any consumer action required.
“The utilities had to convince the community that they
really could control their electrical loads without
impacting the availability of heat or water,” Julie says.
This meant going door to door, taking the time to
explain how the technology worked and what the
consortium was trying to do. Although this took some
effort, in their final Project Benefits Testimonials,
most of the utilities involved reported that PSA helped
them better understand and relate to customers,
enabling them to improve their planning for future
changes.
Where we go from here
The demonstration ended successfully last year.
The team received the Association of Consulting
Engineering Companies-NB’s Showcase Award to
recognize the team’s engineering excellence in the
industrial-energy industry.
Meanwhile, NB Power continues to evolve. “The
utility—once known for its coal-fired power plants—
now has solar panels on its office roof and electric
vehicles with charging stations out front,” Julie says.
And NB Power has gone farther with smart grid
technology. They’ve partnered with Siemens Canada
to modernize the province’s electrical system and
stabilize consumer rates through their Reduce
and Shift Demand Program. Siemens has set up a
smart grid competence center in Fredericton, New
Brunswick, to pursue advanced research into smart
grid technology—a move that brings roughly 25 new
jobs to a region suffering from high unemployment.
No doubt about it, NB Power has come a long way in
a short time. “When advocating for sustainability,
one thing I often get challenged on is that change
takes time,” Julie says. “But with PSA, I saw a
transformation that took only five years—incredible.”
She also sees great opportunities for Stantec as the
industry braces for more rapid changes. “Residential
and commercial solar battery systems are now
becoming affordable for the average person,” she
explains. “There’s also a push toward more resilient
grids, so we’re going to see more localized micro
grids operating independently from the traditional
grid. Utilities will have to adapt to distributed energy
sources, and we can support the transformation.”
Change is coming. We can either embrace it, like NB
Power and its partners did, or be changed by it. Either
way, power is shifting. Fortunately, Julie and our other
experts are here, ready to help our clients balance their
changing loads and find ways to profit—not perish—
from change.
Contact Julie at julie.bunker@stantec.com.