Kensington generating a backup plan

Prince County town wants to ensure a secure energy supply in case of emergency

KENSINGTON – The Town of Kensington has back-up plans in the works in case another longterm power outage or disaster were to hit.

Recently, the town started looking into the cost of a permanent generator to ensure the stability of the municipality’s well field during a power outage or if a disaster, such as a fire, were to occur.

“We’ve started looking at using one to secure the wellfield because, while the water supply might be fine for regular usage during and outage, if something on top of a power outage were to happen like a fire where tankers are needed to put out the flames, the two-day supply may go down to two hours quickly,” said Kensington Mayor Rowan Caseley.

Initial discussions about a generator began earlier this winter after a winter storm on Nov. 29 knocked out the power across the Island.

Since then, the town has been working to secure an emergency measures organization approved warming station and disaster station in case of future events.

The town is planning to have a station set up at the Murray Christian Centre, next door to the Kensington United Church.

Through planning a warming station, the town recognized a generator would be needed for the centre, which also sparked the conversation to install one for the wellfields.

“They came out of the same concern. What do we need to have in order to be prepared?” said Caseley.

The town is still awaiting estimated costs for a generator at the centre, but the generator for the well field is expected to cost about $38,000.

He said the generators will be funded through gas tax money the municipality has received. The town has also applied for government funding to help offset the costs, but no decision has been made on the applications.