As Canadians shift towards greener lives, clean power is needed.
On Thursday, Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, unveiled their plan to build clean, reliable, and affordable electricity systems across the country.
"If we are serious about tackling the climate crisis, and we want to take full advantage of the opportunities in a clean economy, then it's time we roll up our sleeves together and build the clean electricity grid of the 21st century," Guilbeault said.
"A net-zero grid will serve as the basis for climate actions across the economy, like helping Canadians switch to electric transportation and heating, or the development of new and cleaner industries," he added.
According to the government, Canada's electricity grid is already one of the cleanest in the world. More than 84 per cent of the country's electricity generated from non-emitting sources like hydro, nuclear, and wind.
The draft regulations are meant to ensure that the remainder of the energy grid can be decarbonized while meeting the needs of the increasing demand for electricity. As drafted, they would cut over 340 megatonnes of greenhouse gas pollution between 2024 and 2050.
For the average homeowner, the government maintains that electricity is cheaper than home heating oil and gas prices. By 2050, as Canadians use more clean electricity, they are expected to spend about 12 per cent less on energy.
Home retrofit programs and zero-emission vehicle purchase incentives are some additional federal programs meant to help Canadians save on their energy bills.
The draft regulations do admit that not all potential savings are created equal, as capital costs and electricity rates vary, sometimes substantially, from province to province and from territory to territory.
Funding plans for the provinces and territories is reportedly a collaborative effort. "If provinces and territories take full advantage of these tools, federal funding is expected to offset more than half the cost of the new investments needed under the draft regulations," a release from the government said.
It's estimated that, regardless of the implementation of the draft regulations, it will cost more than $400 billion nationally, through 2050, to undertake routine replacements of aging facilities and to expand generation capacity to meet the expected increase in demand.
The regulations are meant to ensure that these investments will result in a clean grid and to help Canada achieve a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.
"We look forward to hearing from provinces and territories, Indigenous partners, and all Canadians during the consultation period of this draft regulation to ensure that it provides the certainty that Canadians want, and the emissions reductions that we must achieve," Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, noted. "With a thoughtful, comprehensive, and collaborative approach, we can ensure that every region of Canada thrives in the global race to fight climate change and seize the economic opportunities of a low-carbon future."
More than $40 billion in new tax credits and other major federal investments are reportedly available as the construction of new power sources and retrofitting of existing plants takes place.
The federal government assured that these regulations were created with consultation from the provinces and territories, Indigenous peoples, and a range of stakeholders, including utilities, electricity experts, and environmental organizations.
On August 19, a 75-day public consultation process with those stakeholders will begin.
The final regulations are expected in 2024.
