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A New Generation In Rural Saskatchewan

The silhouette of grain elevators piercing the pink and purple horizon has long been a proud part of rural Saskatchewan’s beautiful landscape.  But take a drive through the friendly community of Carnduff, located in the South East corner of the province and you will be treated to a different type of beauty.  Just off the highway on the west edge of town, Saskatchewan’s first industrial wind turbine peacefully turns.

The wind turbine sits next to an acre large steel building and parking lot full of enormous diesel trucks in the yard of Fast Trucking, a local oil rig moving company. The wind turbine was the creation of Tony Day, the founder of Fast Trucking, which employs 188 workers and is a cornerstone of the Carnduff community. Tony’s idea for the windmill first emerged when he was just starting out in the oil industry.  “My Dad used to work on the oil rigs and every time he went up one of the derricks the wind was blowing.” explains Dennis Day, Tony’s son who is now co-executive of Fast Trucking along with his father, and brother Larry. “Dad always wanted to give it a try, so we went ahead and tried it.”

In 1997, Fast Trucking purchased and erected an 82 foot tall wind turbine, the first of its kind in Saskatchewan.  “We had to go through SaskPower, but they didn’t have any windmills set up yet.” explains Dennis.  “When we were putting it up in the yard they got kind of excited and gave us a hand.  They were good to deal with.  We were actually the first ones to sell SaskPower power from a wind mill.”

When the wind surpasses 40 km per hour, the turbine can produce up to 66 emissions-free Kilowatts of electricity, enough to meet part of the power needs of its enormous shop, which can require up to 33 Kilowatts to run its lights alone.  The rest of their power needs are purchased from SaskPower.  When the wind blows and the lights are off, SaskPower buys the excess power back.  

Not only has Fast Trucking’s windmill meant clean energy for the company, it has been a big hit with the community as well. The turbine is a great source of pride for the 1100 residents of Carnduff, and has generated a lot of attention across the country. “The first couple of years, we just about had to hire someone to answer the phone to answer questions.” jokes Dennis.

The leadership that Fast Trucking and the Day family have demonstrated over the years isn’t about to stop now.  Plans are in the works to erect a one-megawatt tower. The new tower would be twice as tall as the current one, and thanks to ever-evolving turbine technology, it will also have over ten times the generation capacity.  

It’s just one more example of how big dreams can flourish in small town Saskatchewan, and how the environmental stewardship that has long been a part of Saskatchewan’s proud history is alive and well today.