Category: 3. Business

Maritime Electric has officially filed plans with the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission for the rotating power outages it says may be necessary this winter to prevent a provincewide blackout.

IRAC formally requested the plans in a letter to the utility’s CEO, Jason Roberts, dated Dec. 11. The regulator said it only learned about the potential for rolling outages, which Maritime Electric calls “load shedding,” through media coverage in late November.

The commission wanted to know whether any measures would be put in place to reduce the likelihood of rotating outages and how the utility would notify the public if such outages were necessary.

Roberts said Monday, however, that Maritime Electric filed its official application on the same day it received the letter from IRAC.

“There is some more information that we do need to file just to complete the request as outlined in the letter, but by and large, most of that information has been filed,” Roberts told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.

Roberts said Maritime Electric will aim to avoid rotating outages unless they’re deemed necessary,

He said if the utility needs to use the practice, customers will be notified through Maritime Electric’s website, social media and media outlets.

“It’s kind of like planning for a storm. You don’t know exactly where the storm is going to hit, you don’t know how long it’s going to last, and you don’t know how strong it’s going to be,” Roberts said.

“We don’t know exactly where that load is going to occur, we don’t know how high it’s going to be or how much we’re going to have to shed at a particular point in time.”

In its filing to IRAC, the utility said it should be able to give people notice of up to one or two hours before it has to cut power to a particular area — but in an emergency situation, that warning could be just minutes.

Maritime Electric also said the outages will cost the utility money.

It said planning and responding to an overwhelmed power grid is labour intensive, and will likely mean overtime for many staff. But because it’s never dealt with them before, the company said it can’t say how much rotating power outages would cost.

The utility said it will also cost money to run ads to let Islanders know what’s happening.

Pressures on P.E.I.’s grid

Roberts said keeping up with the pace of change on P.E.I. has been difficult as Maritime Electric deals with an increased population and government programs that encouraged customers to convert from oil heat to electricity.

When asked whether P.E.I. is in a crisis situation when it comes to the power supply, Roberts said “it really does feel that way.”

“We’ve got an increasing demand and we’ve got a shrinking supply on the Island, and then when you look across Atlantic Canada, we’ve got the same thing happening,” he said. “We’re all faced with the same problem, and we’re all working towards adding new generation.”

The commission has applied to add more fossil fuel power generation to the system, but is still waiting on approval from IRAC.

Roberts said a recently implemented smart meter program could help manage demand for electricity, as it will give Maritime Electric the ability to see the usage of individual consumers.

“Our job is to make sure we have enough generation and transmission capacity in place to be able to deliver the energy that you want,” Roberts said. 

“On the demand side… that’s the conversation where we say, let’s try and reduce as much as we can and help each other out.”

As crowds of people flock to their local fish market, to buy-up for their Christmas feast, parts of the the South Australian seafood sector is still reeling in the wake of the algal bloom that closed fisheries in April.

The bloom first appeared in mid-March with reports of sick surfers and yellow foam along beaches on the Fleurieu Peninsula, which was then followed by distressing scenes of fish carcasses washing ashore.

Oyster growers in the affected waters were subsequently closed to ensure consumer safety, they still remain closed today.

Chairman of the SA Oyster Growers Peter Teloar spoke with ABC NewsRadio’s Tamara Wearne.

With the upgraded AI Vision, Samsung becomes more fluent in food recognition and expands the reach of kitchen experiences

 

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that it will unveil its latest kitchen appliances lineup at CES 2026, including the latest iterations of its Bespoke AI Refrigerator. Alongside refreshed designs across the lineup, the company will highlight meaningful improvements to vision-based AI functionality enhanced with Google Gemini and Google Cloud, showing how these innovations simplify everyday tasks and elevate the overall kitchen experience.

 

“In pioneering the application of vision-based AI technology, Samsung has led innovation in the kitchen appliance market,” said Jeong Seung Moon, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D Team for Digital Appliances (DA) Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will reach a new level of innovation through this collaboration with Google Cloud and will utilise these ongoing initiatives to continue to deliver better consumer experiences in the upcoming year.”

 

Introducing Samsung’s Latest AI Vision–Equipped Refrigerator

At CES, Samsung will present a new Bespoke AI Refrigerator Family Hub, equipped with the upgraded AI Vision. The feature’s key upgrade is its functions built with Google Gemini, which marks the first time that it is being integrated into a Samsung refrigerator.

 

Previously, the Family Hub’s AI Vision feature could recognise up to 37 types of fresh food and 50 types of pre-registered processed food on-device.[1] The latest version ready to be unveiled at CES is built to unlock its existing limitations to recognise more food items, offering a comprehensive and flexible experience.

 

It is planned to even recognise processed foods without separate registration, automatically registering their names to increase convenience. Furthermore, Samsung aims to use this technology to detect user-labeled items, such as foods stored in personal containers, which can be added to the food list manually.

 

With ingredients being identified more accurately, managing the food list becomes clearer and easier than before, broadening people’s food-related experiences. At CES, Samsung plans to showcase the enhanced capabilities and new use cases of AI Vision, demonstrating the future of a truly personalised AI kitchen.

 

Samsung Australia is yet to announce local availability of the new Bespoke AI Refrigerator Family Hub[2].

 

 

Enhanced Wine Management with the New Samsung Bespoke AI Wine Cellar

 

Samsung will exhibit the new Bespoke AI Wine Cellar, designed to incorporate an AI Vision built with Google Gemini similar to that of the Bespoke AI Refrigerator.[3]

 

When users store or remove wine bottles from the wine cellar, a camera positioned at the top of the unit will recognise the labels and tracks bottles, updating the SmartThings AI Wine Manager[4] accordingly. The system will also be able to distinguish the specific shelf and compartment where each bottle is placed, allowing users to easily check locations without searching manually. Through the AI Wine Manager, users will be able to look up wine information more conveniently and receive suggestions on pairings based on the type of wine in their inventory, making wine curation more intuitive and personalised.

 

Samsung Australia has not confirmed whether the Bespoke AI Wine Cellar will be part of its 2026 Home Appliance line-up at this time.

 

Visitors at Samsung’s booth at CES 2026 will be the first to see these new innovations. Learn more about Samsung’s CES activities https://news.samsung.com/au/

 

[1] As of April 2025, AI Vision can recognise 37 food items like fresh fruits and vegetables. Items need to be scanned 1 at a time. If the food is not recognisable, it may be listed as an unknown item. AI Vision cannot identify or list any food items in the fridge door bins or freezer. It recognises food items based on deep learning models, which may be updated periodically to improve accuracy. AI Vision also recognises packaged food items that have been saved by the user, and up to 50 items can be saved with designated names. Packaged items are limited to those that keep a certain packaged form.

[2] Global availability of The Bespoke Family Hub with Google Gemini is yet to be announced.

[3] The recognition functionality is only available for shelves with withdrawal capability. For wine input and output, the label must be exposed to the top camera for proper recognition. Additionally, the multi-pantry drawer provides food storage functionality, and information about the food items stored in these drawers is provided as a separate image.

[4] Available on Android and iOS devices. A Wi-Fi connection and a Samsung account are required. Both devices must be signed in with the same Samsung account.

Industrial drone supplier, EE Group Australia Pty Ltd (EE Group), has admitted to engaging in resale price maintenance by directing certain resellers to not advertise or sell DJI drone products to consumers below a specified price. 

Between April 2024 and at least June 2025, EE Group directed its resellers to not sell DJI drone products below the recommended retail price, and resellers were required to agree to comply with EE Group’s pricing strategy. EE Group also informed some resellers that it would not supply them with DJI drone products if they did not agree to sell those products at a specified minimum price.

Under Australia’s competition law, it is illegal for suppliers to prevent, or attempt to prevent, resellers from advertising or selling goods or services below a specified minimum price. This conduct is known as resale price maintenance.

“Resale price maintenance is illegal because it stops retailers from competing with each other on price, leading to higher prices for consumers,” ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward said.

“Recommended retail prices are only a recommendation or suggestion and cannot be mandated by a supplier or distributor.”

“We are warning all businesses that we will continue to take enforcement action against companies who engage in this illegal practice,” Mr Woodward said.

In a court-enforceable undertaking, which has been accepted by the ACCC, EE Group has admitted to breaching the Competition and Consumer Act, committed to issuing corrective notices advising resellers that they are free to set their own prices, and will implement and maintain a competition and consumer law compliance program for three years.

The undertaking is available at: EE Group Australia Pty Ltd

Note to editors

Resale price maintenance is strictly prohibited by Australia’s competition laws. It occurs when suppliers:

• make it known they will not supply goods or services unless a reseller agrees not to advertise or sell at a price below a specified minimum price;
• induce, or attempt to induce, resellers not to advertise or sell below a specified minimum price;
• enter into agreements, or offer to enter into agreements, for the supply of goods or services on terms including that the reseller must not advertise or sell below a specified minimum price;
• withhold supply of goods or services because a reseller, or a purchaser from the reseller, has not agreed not to advertise or sell below a specified minimum price, or has advertised or sold (or is likely to sell) at a price below a specified minimum price;
• use, in relation to goods or services supplied or that may be supplied, a statement as to price which is likely to be understood as the price below which the goods or services are not to be sold.

Businesses may lodge a notification of resale price maintenance conduct with the ACCC or apply for ACCC authorisation of proposed resale price maintenance conduct, which will be permitted if the likely public benefit from the proposed conduct outweighs the likely detriment from that conduct.

More information about resale price maintenance can be found at Minimum resale prices.

Addressing anti-competitive agreements and practices is an enduring compliance and enforcement priority for the ACCC.

More information about the ACCC’s use of section 87B undertakings is available in the Guidelines on ACCC approach to court enforceable undertakings.

Background

EE Group is a distributor of DJI products supplied by iFlight Technology Co Ltd (DJI), including enterprise drones as well as agricultural drones.

EE Group sells its products to independent resellers throughout Australia who then sell these products to consumers. It does not supply its products directly to consumers.