Ottawa storm 2022: Manotick man powers neighbourhood with 'microgrid' house

Source: Marco Vigliotti |· OTTAWA CITIZEN · | May 24, 2022

When Saturday's storm cut off his neighbours' power supply and disrupted access to their well and septic systems, Art Hunter stepped in to help.

Source: The big white boxes on the left are three Tesla Powerwall batteries stacked up like playing cards in a deck in Art Hunter's home. The rest are computers and monitors. PHOTO BY SUPPLIED /Art Hunter

It pays to have a neighbour like Art Hunter.

The retired government scientist, whose resumé includes working on the Canadarm, is providing his rural Manotick neighbours with electricity to power their fridges, freezers, cellphones, electric kettles and much more.

It’s all thanks to his “microgrid” house that harnesses renewable energy from solar panels for electricity and geothermal energy to heat and cool the property.

When Saturday’s storm cut off his neighbours’ power supply and disrupted access to their well and septic systems, Hunter stepped in to help, offering up a place to refill on water and allowing people to run extension cords to his place to power their fridges and freezers.

Neighbours can also stop by to charge their cellphones. 

“I’m half expecting a SWAT team to swoop in (and arrest me),” Hunter joked about the possible consequences for allowing several extension cords to run across a road to his property, located near Mahogany Harbour.