Saint John Energy is partnering with an electric vehicle charging company to reward customers.
The utility says customers could earn up to 11 cents per kilowatt-hour if they charge their EVs at home.
It’s part of a program with SWTCH Energy.
The partnership pairs SWTCH’s home charging program with Saint John Energy’s professional installation service.
Participating customers will get a free SWTCH Level 2 home charger and earn rewards based on the electricity used to charge an EV.
After the first 1,500 kilowatt-hours of chargers, a customer will earn 11 cents for every kilowatt-hour used.
“Affordability has to remain at the centre of the energy transition,” said Saint John Energy vice-president of strategic growth and transformation Glen Fillmore.
It’s the first time SWTCH has worked with an electrical utility in Atlantic Canada.
Saint John Energy will provide a free home assessment to confirm Level 2 charging readiness and the cost to install it, including any panel upgrades.
The reward is made possible through Canada’s Clean Fuels Regulations, which create credits for lower-carbon transportation fuels, including electricity used to charge EVs.
The partnership also expands EV charging options for apartments, condos and businesses.
It’s the first time SWTCH has partnered with a utility in Atlantic Canada.
“Saint John Energy is an ideal partner for our first utility collaboration in Atlantic Canada,” said SWTCH Energy’s vice-president of partnerships Mike Mulqueen.
“It’s been a great partnership to build, and we’re excited to see Saint John drivers start saving every time they plug in.”
Saint John Energy has launched Plug‑In Labs, an online tool that gives researchers access to real data from the city’s smart grid.
The utility said the platform is the first in Canada to give outside innovators secure, managed access to a utility’s near‑real‑time system data.
Plug‑In Labs is built on Saint John Energy’s digital twin, a virtual model of the city’s electricity system.
It lets researchers, students and companies test ideas and run simulations in a safe online environment.
The platform helps users explore how devices, buildings or renewable projects would behave on the grid before anything is built.
President and CEO Ryan Mitchell said the project builds on years of work to modernize the grid and prepare for a low‑carbon future.
“For more than a century, our core responsibility has been to provide safe, affordable and reliable electricity,” Mitchell said.
“But we have also believed that utilities have a responsibility to keep improving, to look ahead and to prepare for what comes next.”
Mitchell said the digital twin created through the utility’s Zero30 initiative made Plug‑In Labs possible.
Real data is key
Saint John Energy says the platform addresses a long‑standing challenge in the energy sector.
Glen Fillmore, the utility’s vice president of strategic growth and transformation, explained that innovators could build models but rarely had access to real utility data.
“The challenge has always been having access to real data of how the energy system works and how the energy system responds to certain things,” Fillmore said.
“And that’s what we’re making available today.”
Glen Fillmore, vice president of strategic growth and transformation at Saint John Energy. Photo: Alex Allan |Acadia Broadcasting
Jodi Stringer, P.Eng., dean of engineering technologies at NBCC Saint John, said real information is essential for accurate modelling.
“We actually need to be able to have access to that real data in real time and calibrate,” Stringer said.
“Having access to the real data allows us to make those models much more efficient and accurate.”
Plug‑In Labs is already being used by Concordia University’s Next Generation Cities Institute and by NBCC at its Grandview Avenue campus in Saint John.
Concordia researchers are using the platform to model residential building retrofits and test demand‑response strategies that could reduce peak electricity use.
NBCC is connecting its Clean Energy Park, a microgrid with solar, wind and battery storage, to the digital twin.
The goal is to study how small‑scale systems interact with the wider grid.
Stringer said the partnership gives students hands‑on experience with real‑world data while helping the utility plan for future renewable projects.
Academic and industry partners say the move is significant
Dhirendra Shukla, executive director of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of New Brunswick, said the decision to open real utility data to outside problem‑solvers is rare in the energy sector.
“What makes this special is a major infrastructure player like Saint John Energy stepping up and saying, ‘Come in and be part of this innovation journey,’” Shukla said.
Dhirendra Shukla, executive director of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of New Brunswick. Photo: Alex Allan |Acadia Broadcasting
He called the move “brave,” noting that most utilities avoid opening their systems because of perceived risk.
“The entire world is going to come to Saint John with that same innovative spirit and ask how they can work here,” he said.
Saint John Energy said the platform was made possible through earlier work with Deloitte Canada and Awesense, whose technology helped build the digital twin at the heart of Plug‑In Labs.
Their work through the Zero30 initiative brought together multiple data sets and created the modelling tools now used by researchers.
Part of the Zero30 roadmap
Saint John Energy said Plug‑In Labs is the latest step in its Zero30 plan.
It’s the utility’s roadmap for how it might reach net‑zero emissions and help customers do the same.
The initiative has included new renewable generation, utility‑scale battery storage and the development of the digital twin, now at the centre of the platform.
Ryan Mitchell said opening the data to outside problem‑solvers will help drive new ideas and economic growth.
“They create opportunity. They create jobs. They build expertise. They attract investment,” he said.
“Saint John becomes a place where energy solutions are developed for Canada and beyond.”
Saint John Energy is moving ahead with a project to modernize the city’s electrical grid.
The utility announced Grid Forward Saint John Friday, a project made possible with a $9.75-million investment from Saint John Energy and a matching investment from Natural Resources Canada.
“We’re looking to upgrade infrastructure,” Saint John Energy president and CEO Ryan Mitchell said. “We’re improving outage management and we’re introducing self-healing technology that can detect issues and restore power faster.”
Mitchell said the federal investment will allow the project to move faster.
“This project is part of our active grid initiative, where we are using data and advanced technologies to better manage electricity in real time, integrate more renewable energy and operate more efficiently,” he said.
Mitchell said a significant portion of the funding will be used to augment capacity already in the system, as well as upgrading underground infrastructure.
“In Saint John, we have probably more underground infrastructure than the balance of the rest of Atlantic Canada,” he said, adding that has contributed to Saint John Energy’s high reliability.
Construction on the project is expected to take several years, and Mitchell said the age of some existing infrastructure in the city means a lot of renewal, particularly in uptown Saint John.
Saint John-Kennebecasis MP Wayne Long, who announced of the federal contribution on behalf of Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, said the upgrades will be out of sight, but they matter.
“They matter for people who depend on them,” Long said.
“We need to build the grid that can carry more clean power, connect more regions. That is critical for our province, it’s critical for us in southern New Brunswick.”
Long said the modernized grid would support more industrial and economic growth, and there are opportunities that could employ thousands of workers.
“We need to get behind these projects and make them happen for our community,” Long said. “We need to build the grid that strengthens our national security. We need to build a grid that gives workers and businesses the confidence, the confidence to come here. They know that they’ll have energy, electricity, they’ll have power.”
Saint John Energy is reporting the outage in the area of Crown Street, City Road and Brunswick Drive has been resolved.
The outage affected approximately 250 customers.
Power has been restored to all customers in the Crown Street, City Road, Brunswick Drive area. If you are still having issues with your power please call 506-658-5252.
