On June 10, 2024, the Canada Electricity Advisory Council released its final report: Powering Canada: A blueprint for success.
The Council was launched in May, 2023 with a year-long mandate to provide independent advice to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources on how to accelerate investment, and promote sustainable, affordable, and reliable electricity systems across Canada.
The Council’s members include diverse experts from across the electricity sector, including leaders in regulation and policy, clean technology and innovation, socio-economic issues, Indigenous communities and intergovernmental affairs.
On December 12, 2023, the Canada Electricity Advisory Council launched a consultation seeking feedback from the public to help develop the Council’s final recommendations to the federal government. The Atlantica Centre for Energy shared recommendations through this consultation process.
Report recommendations:
The Final Report shares specific recommendations for how federal and provincial governments and utilities can decarbonize and growth the electricity sector to help Canada achieve its emissions goals affordably, reliably, and in ways that benefit Indigenous communities.
The Council’s 28 recommendations fall into four themes; align the goals, enable the build, support the transition, and save to lighten the load.
Recommendations included detailed actions to improve policy certainty for the electricity sector, improve regulatory agility and streamline processes, and bring more consistency to net-zero strategies across provinces, but enable more flexibility within federal policies.
Additional notable recommendations include:
- extending the timelines and amount of federal Investment Tax Credits;
- expand the Clean Electricity ITC eligibility to include intra-provincial transmission infrastructure;
- encourage provinces to develop energy roadmaps and focus ITC conditions on these roadmaps;
- proactively develop federal Crown lands;
- develop and publish resources to support project proponents in meeting the requirements to consult with appropriate rightsholders; and,
- expand funding for energy efficiency programs directed at lower-income residents.
The Council also sought new modelling to help inform the report and recommendations including new modelling on the energy transition costs for residents (energy wallet), which will be released detail in the coming months.
Overall, the Council’s recommendations provide detailed actions for many electricity stakeholders to help facilitate the decarbonization and growth of the electricity sector as quickly and affordably as possible across Canada. The Atlantica Centre for Energy believes the report provides pragmatic advice, the majority of which would be supported by stakeholders across Atlantic Canada.
Next steps:
Upon release of the report, the federal government stated these recommendations support the government’s efforts in bringing “forward the next steps to bring non-emitting, affordable energy to Canadians — including Canada’s first Clean Electricity Strategy.” The federal government also said the report recommendations should “provide direction for provinces, territories, utilities, and stakeholders.” The Clean Electricity Strategy hinges, in large part, on the release of the final Clean Electricity Regulations, which should also be released in the coming few months.
“The Electricity Advisory Council is to be applauded for coming up with a simple, cogent plan that, if followed, could get us closer to net zero. We look forward to working with government and other partners to implement this. The intention to create a Clean Electricity Strategy, announced by the government last summer, is a crucial next step to achieving this.”
– Francis Bradley, President and CEO, Electricity Canada