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North America / Commercial & demonstration

Hartley Bay Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations9
System facts39
Sources reviewed11
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Hartley Bay's documented smart-microgrid project was a diesel-efficiency and demand-response retrofit, not a commissioned hydro hybrid. Natural Resources Canada reports a 1.05 MW diesel plant, building controls, smart meters, and an energy-management system that shifted or shed electric heating and ventilation loads. The community was still diesel supplied in 2025; a separate 948–950 kW Gitga'at Power hydro project is in development and is currently projected for 2028–2030 construction and completion if leadership proceeds.

Research status
The 2008-era smart-metering, efficiency, and demand-response project was commissioned and demonstrated, although continued operation of every legacy controller is not independently confirmed. BC Hydro reports 0.6 million litres of diesel consumption in Hartley Bay in 2025. The proposed hydro plant has not been built: permitting, studies, commercial negotiations, and financing remain in progress, with 2030 the current target completion year.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
3,900 kW
Coordinates
53.42392, -129.25351
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Hartley Bay Microgrid?

9 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada

Federal project collaborator [3]

Organization

BC Hydro

Current electricity service provider and planner for the non-integrated diesel system [7]

Organization

Coast Funds

Provided C$2 million in 2024 toward the hydro project's development [10]

Organization

Gitga'at First Nation

Community host and owner of the future hydro initiative through Gitga'at Power [5][8]

Organization

Gitga'at Power

Developer of the separate proposed hydro project [8][9]

Organization

Government of British Columbia

Project collaborator [3]

Organization

Natural Resources Canada / CanmetENERGY

Federal research, documentation, and support for the smart remote microgrid demonstration [5][6]

Organization

Natural Resources Canada CanmetENERGY

Project lead, research, and technical integration [2][3]

Organization

Pulse Energy

Supplier of the energy-management and demand-response platform used in the demonstration [6]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Gas/Diesel
3000 [1]
KW Hydro
900 [1]
Storage
N/A [1]
Diesel generation
Two 420 kW gensets plus one 210 kW genset (1.05 MW total) [3]
Primary generator bus
600 V [3]
Community distribution
Approximately 2 km at 25 kV, stepped down to 120/240/208 V [3]
Distribution transformers
25 kVA and 50 kVA units [3]
Community scale
Approximately 170 residents and 82 buildings in the project report [3]
Annual electricity consumption
Approximately 2 GWh [3]
Controllable winter load
Approximately 20% of winter peak [3]
Existing generation
Three diesel generator sets: two 420 kW units and one 210 kW unit, totaling 1.05 MW [6]
Existing annual electricity
Up to approximately 2 GWh/year in the demonstration-era documentation [6]
Distribution
600 V generator bus stepped up to 25 kV for roughly 2 km of distribution, then stepped down for 120/240/208 V service [6]
Demand-response capability
61.3 kW of identified controllable load, about 15% of maximum community demand; demonstrations measured reductions up to approximately 35 kW [5][6]
Diesel-dispatch savings estimate
Reconfigured generator dispatch was estimated to save about 77,000 litres and C$77,000 per year; a further 27,000 litres/year from demand response was a projection rather than a verified result [5][6]
2025 diesel consumption
Approximately 0.6 million litres [7]
Proposed hydro
948–950 kW small-storage/run-of-lake plant, not yet constructed [7][8][10]
Proposed hydro impact
BC Hydro models approximately 0.5 million litres/year of diesel displacement; Coast Funds described a 95% reduction target. Both are forecasts, not operating results [7][10]
Proposed hydro schedule and cost
Current developer projection is C$77.5 million, construction beginning in 2028, and completion in 2030, contingent on leadership approval and project progression [8]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Load controllers

Model not publicly disclosed

Networked controllers and adjustable 30 A thermostats were deployed at the school, health clinic, and community centre; commercial model numbers are not disclosed. [3]

02

Energy-management system

Pulse Energy

Monitoring and load-management system added or removed controllable loads according to a system-efficiency algorithm. [3]

03

Distribution system

Model not publicly disclosed

600 V generation, step-up to 25 kV community distribution, and building-level step-down service. Transformer and genset manufacturers are not named. [3]

04

Diesel generation

Model not publicly disclosed

Two 420 kW and one 210 kW generator sets; manufacturers and models are not disclosed in the cited technical report [6]

05

Energy-management system

Pulse Energy

Community-wide energy information and demand-response platform [6]

06

Load controls

Model not publicly disclosed

Wireless, adjustable 30 A thermostats/load controllers installed at major facilities to control electric heating and ventilation loads [6]

07

Metering

Model not publicly disclosed

Wireless smart meters deployed to community buildings beginning in 2008 [5][6]

08

Storage

Model not publicly disclosed

No battery energy-storage system is documented for the commissioned smart-microgrid phase [5][6]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Management

    It has been able to reduce the maximum demand (61.3 kW) by 15%. [1]

  • Management

    The microgrid project has been estimated saving around 77,000 L of diesel per year . [1]

  • Demand response

    The controller shifted thermostatically controlled building loads according to generator efficiency and available system margin rather than using battery storage. [3]

  • Reported result

    The recovered project page reported a 61.3 kW peak reduction and about 77,000 litres of annual diesel savings; these remain archive-sourced figures. [1]

  • Source reconciliation

    The government paper documents 1.05 MW of installed diesel generation; the recovered directory's 3 MW figure is retained separately and should not be treated as the same verified configuration. [3][1]

  • Hydro status

    The reviewed smart-microgrid papers do not document an operating 900 kW hydro plant, so the recovered hydro value is not presented as installed equipment. [3][1]

  • Architecture

    The project overlaid monitoring, building-efficiency measures, coordinated diesel dispatch, and demand response on an isolated diesel power system. [5][6]

  • Controlled loads

    Baseboard heating, domestic hot water, HVAC, and ventilation loads at the school, clinic, community centre, and other buildings were candidates for short-duration control. [6]

  • Community scale

    The technical report describes about 170 residents and 82 buildings, comprising 62 residential and 20 commercial or mixed-use buildings. [6]

  • Economics

    The demonstration-era cost of electricity was estimated at roughly C$0.67/kWh and more than C$500,000 per year; these are historical estimates, not current tariffs. [6]

  • Current energy mix

    The latest primary planning evidence still treats Hartley Bay as a diesel community. The hydro contribution is zero until the separate Gitga'at Power project is commissioned. [7][8]

  • Hydro development update

    A 5.7 km access road was completed in January 2024, commercial negotiations began in August 2025, and environmental, technical, and permitting work continues. [9][10]

Provenance

11 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    First Canadian Smart Remote Microgrid: Hartley Bay, BC

    Natural Resources Canada · Primary source

  3. [3]
    The First Canadian Smart Remote Microgrid: Hartley Bay, BC

    Natural Resources Canada CanmetENERGY · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Hartley Bay Smart Microgrid technical report

    Natural Resources Canada CanmetENERGY · Primary source

  5. [5]
    First Canadian smart remote microgrid in Hartley Bay, BC

    Natural Resources Canada · Primary source

  6. [6]
    Hartley Bay Smart Microgrid Project

    Natural Resources Canada / CanmetENERGY · Primary source

  7. [7]
  8. [8]
    Phase 2: Hydroelectric Development

    Gitga'at Power · Primary source

  9. [9]
  10. [10]
    2024 Annual Report

    Coast Funds · Primary source

  11. [11]
    Hartley Bay Microgrid (archived legacy record)

    Microgrid Projects / Internet Archive · Archived source

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