Maritime Electric is still evaluating six renewable energy projects for Prince Edward Island that could cost an estimated $300 million, the company president says.

Fred O'Brien was asked about the status of the projects Thursday at the annual shareholders meeting of its parent company, Fortis Inc. of Newfoundland.

Last fall, the P.E.I. government put out a call for proposals to develop 130 megawatts of renewable energy, with 30 megawatts allotted for the Island and the rest to be exported.

Six proposals were submitted, mostly for new wind farms.

At the end of April, Maritime Electric, which is evaluating the proposals, said they weren't economical and would be more expensive than buying power from the mainland.

O'Brien told shareholders that the bidding companies were asked to bring their costs down and re-submit their proposals.

"We found a couple of changes that we made — maybe share the risk in the companies a little more — to help the projects be more economical," he said. "We went back to all six and received responses, and we're in the evaluation stages now."

Fortis and Maritime Electric reported record growth and profits at the meeting. Company officials said that on P.E.I., the utility would continue to be just a buyer and distributor of electricity.

Even though it's assessing wind farms for the government, the company has no plans to get involved in its own large-scale generation projects.

Point Lepreau shutdown costing utility $2M a month

There are 1,600 Island shareholders in Fortis. Maritime Electric did not reveal how much they earned last year from their investment. They are guaranteed a return of about 10 per cent.

"The company has operated very conservatively and … [has] made successful investments over the years that have allowed our earnings to continue to grow," Barry Perry, vice-president of Fortis, said.

But Maritime Electric has had an ongoing problem because one of its main suppliers is the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station in New Brunswick. Repairs to the plant have dragged on for several years, and it won't be up and running again until at least 2011.

"At this point, it costs us anywhere from $1.5 million to $2 million per month for incremental costs for replacement energy, and we are paying those costs now," O'Brien said.

Although the costs aren't showing up on Islanders' electrical bills yet, they will once Lepreau starts generating again.

The cost of the expensive replacement power will be spread out over the next 25 years.

"The customers that are going to benefit from this outage are the ones who will benefit over the 25-year period that the station life has been extended," O'Brien said.

Fortis is the largest investor-owned distribution utility in Canada, serving about 2.1 million gas and electricity customers, according to the company website.

Its regulated holdings include electric utilities in five Canadian provinces and three Caribbean countries, and a natural gas utility in British Columbia.

It also owns non-regulated hydroelectric generation assets across Canada and in Belize and upper New York State.