Diesel Power Generation

Greetings J Turner and welcome to the madness of CR4!

You don't say how many KW's you use during that period so I will assume minimum usage given the term "Cottage".

You would need to calculate how many gallons/litres you would use for one or two weekends a month then multiply those gallons/litres by how much diesel costs in your area.

You also need to determine the cost of the generator itself and calculate how long it would take to break even given disconnection from the grid versus cost of the genny and cost of fuel.

Before you disconnect from the grid, you also need to consider sump pumps, refrigerators, heating/cooling, security system, ect that may need to be electrically maintained full time.

Also consider the size of the fuel tank, you don't want to be getting out of bed at 2AM to refuel the genny.

If you can get by these obstacles, and can get a savings payback within 12 - 15 months, I would say go for it.

This is all going to depend on your power consumption while you're there. You may be able to get by with a small portable generator. Do you have things running when you aren't there?

I wonder why your bill is so high. Don't you only pay for electricity used, or is it some other arrangement?

What do you mean by "hydro utility"

It may be a communal owned hydro plant where each user is bound by contract to pay an equal share. In that case it would be difficult to get out of the contract.