Prime Minister Mark Carney has won deserved praise for standing firm against the Trump administration’s threats and imposition of tariffs. But political credit is only as good as the strategy that follows, and Canada now faces a genuine opportunity to do something more ambitious than weather the storm.

Carney’s approach has sparked a broader conversation among the world’s ‘middle powers’ – countries with significant economies like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the U.K. that share a commitment to rules-based trade but sit outside the U.S.-China superpower axis. These are countries that are actively looking for a different economic path forward, one that doesn’t simply mirror the nationalism coming out of Washington and Beijing.

Keep reading this post, co-authored by Ryan Mulholland and Ollie Sheldrick, in Policy Options.

The post A Canada-led clean trade pact would show that middle powers mean business appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

As a result, many Canadians will see the recently announced temporary suspension of the federal fuel tax on gas, diesel, and jet fuel as welcome relief. But even assuming retailers fully pass the tax savings on to drivers, that relief will be just as described: temporary. 

Keep reading this op-ed, co-authored by Sicellia Tsui, in Canada’s National Observer.

The post A gas tax holiday may give drivers temporary relief, but an EV eliminates the root problem appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

As the war in Iran rages on, gas prices are skyrocketing: drivers are now paying roughly $20 to $25 more each time they fill up their tanks. I, on the other hand, am saving $500 a month—and that’s because, for the last three years, I’ve been driving an electric vehicle. In B.C., where I live and where gas prices recently rose above $2 per litre, these savings are becoming harder to resist. Just recently, a friend’s boss ordered a new electric SUV; they said they’re simply over the volatile gas prices, especially since electricity is so much cheaper here. Indeed, for many drivers, today’s egregious gas prices may be the final push that tips them toward an EV. 

There are already signs of this happening. While we won’t know exactly how much EV sales have grown until first-quarter data is released, online searches for EVs have ballooned. According to Rates.ca, insurance quotes for EVs rose 40 per cent in March, compared to the same time last year, while online vehicle retailer Clutch reported a 94 per cent jump in searches for EVs between January and March. Meanwhile, the president of Electric Mobility Canada said some car dealers have seen a 30 to 100 per cent leap in EV sales.

Keep reading this op-ed in Maclean’s.

The post Will Outrageous Gas Prices Restart the EV Boom? appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

As the conflict in the Middle East enters its second month, a number of politicians and business leaders have viewed the war as an opportunity for Canada’s oil and gas industry.

Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson stated in March 2026 at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas: “Over the last two weeks, with Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, it has truly never been clearer that oil and gas from reliable producers like Canada are what our allies need.”

Keep reading this op-ed, co-authored by Mark Zacharias, in Business in Vancouver.

The post Opinion: B.C. should secure its place in global energy supply chains amid Middle East tensions appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

This blog describes why Canada’s tailpipe emission standards are a critical part of the new federal auto strategy, outlines how these standards work, and provides recommendations for how to design the next phase of these regulations most effectively. 

In the new auto strategy released in February, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the federal government would be replacing the EV Availability Standard with tailpipe emission standards that will deliver on Canada’s new EV sales targets of 75% by 2035 and 90% by 2040. These standards work by requiring carmakers to sell cleaner and more fuel efficient vehicles year after year. In the near-term, this approach offers more flexibility because carmakers can meet standards by improving the fuel efficiency of gas cars or focusing more on hybrids, in addition to electrification. But as the policy ramps up, carmakers will have to offer more EVs in the Canadian market to meet the standard.

Tailpipe emission standards have the potential to drive a shift to EVs—but only if we get the details right. For instance, both the EU and the U.S. have relied on tailpipe emission standards as the main regulatory lever to clean up their passenger vehicle fleets. In the EU, EV sales reached nearly 30% in 2025, up from 3% in 2019. The EU now has a broad selection of EVs on the market, including more EV models at better price points than Canada, and is the fastest growing major EV market in the world as we kick off 2026. The U.S., in contrast, has relatively low EV uptake (7.8% in 2025, when nearly 40 countries globally have already surpassed 10% EV sales) and a dearth of affordable EV models. 

While Canada’s more EV-supportive policy landscape has helped us outcompete the U.S. on EV uptake and model availability to date (for instance, there are multiple instances where carmakers are offering certain EV models in the Canadian market but not the U.S. as a result of our diverging policy landscapes, seen here, here and here), we risk falling further and further behind much of the world, including our major non-U.S. trade partners, if we replace the EV Availability Standard with tailpipe emission standards that are too weak. 

Canada will also fail to make a dent in its passenger vehicle emissions with standards that are too weak, as we’ve seen in the past. Indeed, despite having a version of this policy in place since 2011, our car emissions have dropped a mere 1% in nearly 15 years. In fact, Canada’s on-road fleet emits more today than it did in the 1990s (see figure below). 

Source: Government of Canada 2026 

In sum, this policy has the potential to deliver key benefits to Canadians and act as a sufficient substitute for the now-repealed EV Availability Standard—if designed right. Specifically, it would:

• Ensure the Canadian market is prioritized when carmakers are deciding where to send EV inventory
• Help secure more affordable EV models in the Canadian market
• Improve the fuel efficiency of gas cars to help Canadians save money at the pump 
• Drive down emissions in Canada’s second highest polluting sector
• Offer the market certainty needed to support and de-risk investments in Canada’s EV supply chain, including in our charging network

Here are the five key design features that must shape the next version of Canada’s tailpipe emission standards to get us on track for 75% EV sales by 2035, make a meaningful dent in our passenger vehicle emissions and secure the other key consumer and industry benefits this policy has the potential to deliver: 

1. Implement by 2027 and until 2035. Canada’s existing tailpipe emission standards (formerly called the Passenger Automobile and Light Truck Greenhouse Gas Emission Regulations) apply to vehicles of model year 2017 to 2025. With the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard (EVAS) now repealed, Canada has no policy on the books regulating the emissions from (or improving the fuel efficiency of) the cars and trucks Canadians drive after 2026. This needs to be addressed quickly by implementing the next version of these standards in 2027 at the latest. The next version should also cover up to model year 2035—a similar eight-year timeline like the last phase—to offer industry the longer-term certainty needed for planning and investment and to align with the first auto strategy EV sales target: 75% by 2035. 

2. Set a standard sufficiently stringent to deliver 75% EV sales by 2035. The new standards will also need to be sufficiently stringent to secure EV supply, meet Canada’s new target of 75% EV sales by 2035 and make up for the emission reductions EVAS would have achieved. While early signals suggest federal officials may be considering a standard of about 74 grams of carbon per mile by 2035, new modelling by the Pembina Institute indicates this will not be stringent enough to deliver 75% EV sales. Instead, Canada would need to pursue a standard of 40 g/mile by 2035 to achieve that level of EV sales and preserve a meaningful portion of the GHG emission reductions the EVAS would have achieved (see figure below). (For comparison, the EU’s existing policy requires that all new cars sold by 2035 achieve a 0 grams/mile standard. The European Commission recently proposed to weaken that to an ~18 g/mile standard by 2035. Even if that less stringent standard is adopted, Canada’s proposal is four times weaker than that.) Moreover, as we work to land on the right Canada-specific standards to achieve our goals, it would be prudent to use a “grams per kilometre” metric to align with our vehicle fleet and measurement system.  

Source: Pembina 2026

Source: Pembina 2026

3. Ensure a reasonable ramp up pre-2035, including a level of stringency that would deliver a 2030 EV sales target of 40%. Canada will also need sufficiently stringent annual standards in interim years leading up to 2035. Backloading policy ambition until, for instance, post-2030 will significantly slow EV uptake, missing out on near- and medium-term emission reductions and limiting EV affordability benefits for Canadians. Strong interim requirements ensure carmakers continue moving forward with electrification year after year. In this case, Europe’s tailpipe emission standards offer an example of what not to do. The EU uses a step-wise standard that sets increasing requirements only every five years. EV uptake surged in 2020-2021 after the region’s strict 2021 requirements kicked in. But then Europe’s EV market share started to flatline and even decline as carmakers faced no regulatory pressure to keep moving. It was only in 2025, when the next step of the tailpipe emission standards came into effect, that Europe’s EV market share rose again, with a 6.2 percentage point jump between 2024 and 2025. China, in contrast, saw its EV market share grow continuously year after year due to strong annual requirements (see figure below). Strong interim requirements also provide the market certainty key players like charging station providers, electric utilities, raw material suppliers and battery recyclers need to continue investing in Canada’s EV supply chain.  

Source: ICCT 2026 

4. Apply one standard across vehicles of different sizes. There has been a significant shift towards larger, more polluting vehicles like pickup trucks and SUVs over the last 20 years. In 2000, SUVs and pickups accounted for roughly half of all new passenger vehicles sold. Now they account for nearly 90% (see figure below). So while vehicles within their respective categories have become more efficient, automakers—especially U.S. automakers—have pushed more consumers toward larger, more profitable vehicles. The net effect has been that this shift in vehicle type popularity has virtually canceled out emission reductions achieved through growing EV adoption in Canada. The current design of Canada’s tailpipe emission standards has inadvertently contributed to this trend by applying two different standards—one for cars and a separate, more lenient standard for “light trucks” (i.e. pickup trucks and SUVs). The next version of Canada’s tailpipe emission standard should apply a single standard across all vehicle sizes, which recent research from SFU shows would deliver more emissions reductions than separate standards for cars and light-duty trucks, while slowing the shift toward larger, heavier vehicles.

Source: Clean Energy Canada 2020

5. Limit compliance flexibilities. One of the selling features of the tailpipe emission standards is the flexibility of their design. Already, the policy allows carmakers to meet their requirements in many different ways, whether by improving the fuel efficiency of their gas cars, selling more conventional hybrids, selling more EVs, trading credits, or banking credits for up to five years. As a result, all car companies in Canada have remained in compliance with the regulations to date, and there is an excess of over 27 million credits for future use, according to the most recent compliance report (see table below, taken from the report).

But too many flexibilities can start to undermine policy goals and the integrity of the credit market. For instance, recent analysis by T&E of EU standards found that implementing all of the proposed flexibilities in the EU’s new proposed tailpipe emission regulations would result in an additional 720 million tons of CO2 (MtCO₂e) between 2025 and 2050 (see figure below). As Canada considers design features such as the ability to “bank” credits for future use, EV “supercredits” (i.e. double or sometimes even triple counting EV sales under the standard) and the carry over of early action credits earned under the EV Availability Standard (a policy that is now repealed), it must balance flexibility for industry with policy integrity. Putting reasonable limits on compliance flexibilities will help Canada avoid a similar outcome and ensure the policy delivers the fuel efficiency gains, EV sales and emission reductions it’s meant to deliver.

Source: T&E 2026

Canada must follow through on its commitment to put strong tailpipe emission regulations in place, and fast. Done right, this policy can drive down carbon pollution in one of Canada’s highest-emitting sectors and provide regulatory certainty needed to support private sector investment in Canada’s EV supply chain—all while ensuring Canadians from coast to coast are able to buy the clean cars they want.

The post Five design recommendations for the next phase of Canada’s tailpipe emission standards appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

Canada is back in the electric vehicle race.

Following a sluggish year for EV sales, 2026 will almost certainly see a stark reversal in that trend. In fact, Canadian EV sales were already climbing back up in the second half of 2025 after falling when the federal government paused its rebate program last January. But expect to see a real return to form in 2026 and a continued rise to Canada’s new sales target of 75% EV sales by 2035.

Keep reading this op-ed in the Toronto Star.

The post The already-good math on buying an EV just improved dramatically appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

Two months ago, Southern Ontario was hit by a winter storm with record snowfall and temperatures dropping to -20°C. That same weekend, more than 1,500 people in Ontario who own a heat pump filled out a national survey. All told, 92% of them said they would recommend a heat pump to their neighbours and that they were very or somewhat happy with their device. 

Keep reading this op-ed in Canada’s National Observer.

The post Your neighbours love their heat pumps appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

Last week, the federal government announced $84 million to install more than 8,000 new electric vehicle chargers across Canada and promised a new National Charging Infrastructure Strategy. It was a welcome encore following the release of a new auto strategy in which Canada re-committed to an EV future. 

But on the charging front, Canada could and should think bigger than one-off funding announcements. One way to kickstart a Canadian charging strategy is to use the tools we already have and designate the build-out of a coast-to-coast EV charging network a ‘project of national interest.’ 

An estimated 16 to 25 million EVs are projected to be on Canadian roads by 2040, requiring tens of thousands of fast chargers to support them. A coordinated build-out of a national charging network ensures Canada’s domestic market for EVs continues to grow, anchoring EV manufacturing investments and jobs in Canada and connecting Canadians across the country with affordable, clean electricity. Nearly 70 per cent of Canadians support this vision, according to a new Abacus Data poll commissioned by Clean Energy Canada. 

Charging installation and operation already contribute to the 130,000 jobs in Canada’s EV sector today. These are local Canadian civil and electrical contractors and skilled tradespeople who exist in communities across the country — and that cannot be easily offshored. There are also homegrown Canadian charging providers like FLO and SWTCH, as well as subsidiaries of Canadian electric utility companies that stand to benefit from a focused national build-out. 

Growing Canada’s charging network also helps maintain domestic EV demand and ensures a robust market for the vehicles, batteries, components, critical minerals and materials that Canada is investing billions to produce. We’re currently building multi-billion-dollar EV battery plants, fast-tracking one of the world’s largest nickel projects in Ontario, mining lithium in Manitoba and looking to process rare earth elements in Quebec, all to position ourselves as a clean energy superpower.

On the consumer side, driving an EV saves a typical Canadian driver thousands of dollars per year on fuel costs compared to driving a comparable gas car. But range anxiety — the fear of not finding a charger — remains one of the top barriers to adoption. An extensive, reliable charging network addresses this concern head-on, making the financial benefits of EV ownership accessible to more Canadians. EV adoption and charging expansion run in parallel. You cannot build out a full charging network before EV sales take off, nor can you expect robust EV sales without charging infrastructure. 

So how does Canada realize this vision of a nation-building charging network? It will require a strategic mix of public investment and private capital mobilization — precisely what a project of national interest designation facilitates.

First, the federal government should focus on ways to leverage private capital. The $1.5 billion in new financing through the Canada Infrastructure Bank for charging infrastructure is a good start. However, this program should be complemented by an investment tax credit for on-road charging infrastructure to further strengthen project economics and provide the predictability needed to facilitate long-term private investments across a broader range of projects and locations.

Second, the federal government needs to streamline charging approval and connection processes by working with provinces, municipalities and electric utilities. Ontario recently did this, mandating standardized procedures for installing and connecting EV charging infrastructure across the province’s 58 local distribution companies.

Third, let’s not forget the power of strong regulatory signals. A 2024 Parliamentary Budget Office analysis found that the former EV Availability Standard was going to stimulate enough private sector investment to get Canada almost all the way to where we needed to be on charging by 2030 without further government support. 

With the EVAS removed, we’ll need to work fast to get those promised new tailpipe emission standards in place and ensure they’re sufficiently stringent to support similar levels of private investment. That means tracking EU-levels of ambition and implementing the standards by 2027. When charging providers and utilities know EVs are coming, they invest accordingly.

Last, recapitalizing the popular Zero-Emission Infrastructure Program can direct funding to places where charging financials may not yet pencil out but where there are still Canadians interested in the cost-savings an EV can provide. Rural and underserved communities need charging stations too, and apartment residents — particularly renters — shouldn’t be locked out of EV ownership simply because they can’t install a home charger. On that note, requiring that every new build is EV-ready from the start is far more cost-effective than retrofitting later — the feds have an opportunity to solve the problem for new builds before it ever happens.

The government’s National Charging Infrastructure Strategy, promised for this fall, is the opportunity to make this all happen. By designating a coast-to-coast charging network as a project of national interest, the federal government can signal its importance, streamline interprovincial coordination and attract the scale of private investment required. Doing so would support our auto and critical mineral ambitions and help unlock EV ownership for more Canadians.

Joanna Kyriazis is the director of policy and strategy, and the transportation lead at Clean Energy Canada. Denise Lee is a policy advisor within Clean Energy Canada’s clean transportation team, where she works on the development of transport policy solutions for a more sustainable future.

This post was co-authored by Denise Lee and first appeared in Canada’s National Observer.

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As the province prepares to table its 2026 budget on Feb. 17, B.C. families are doing their own budgeting at the kitchen table.

In the past two weeks, we heard from a mom weighing whether to cut after-school programs to cover higher heating bills during a cold snap.

We heard from a homeowner who wants to retrofit an aging house to keep bills down, but the upfront costs are out of reach.

Across our memberships, the message is the same: People want solutions that lower monthly costs, but they need those savings to be within reach.

It’s no wonder: Winter in B.C. is expensive, and when heating costs rise, the ripple hits groceries, commuting, and rent.

Households with lower incomes, older homes, or fewer housing options are often hit first and hardest, with the least ability to reduce their bills.

Home-heating gas bills rose 28.5 per cent in the past year, and Deloitte forecasts rising costs for natural gas as LNG exports grow, pushing bills higher.

That is why the choices in this year’s B.C. budget matter.

The budget will either protect the CleanBC rebates and incentives that lower our bills, or it will cut them just when people need relief.

CleanBC is the province’s climate plan with programs to help households upgrade homes, get cheaper and cleaner transportation, and reduce bills.

The recent independent review of CleanBC put it plainly: These rebates and incentives have been “critical levers” that lower household costs while cutting pollution, boosting health and jobs, and preparing our energy system for an electrified future.

The review also warned that stopping or publicly reconsidering programs sends mixed signals that can delay investment decisions. In other words, uncertainty costs money.

Electric heat pumps are a great example. They lower energy bills and improve comfort and safety during hot spells and smoke season.

Clean Energy Canada’s recent B.C. analysis found that, on average, annual household energy bills with a cold climate air source heat pump would be $169 lower than with a natural gas furnace and air conditioning, and $849 lower than with electric resistance heating and A/C.

Transportation is a similar scenario. In many B.C. communities, long commutes are common, and gas price volatility is a constant source of stress.

Clean Energy Canada’s EV cost analysis found that a typical EV can save thousands of dollars a year through cheaper fuel and maintenance costs.

But too many households can’t access any savings if upfront costs stay out of reach or if programs are hard to navigate.

That is why predictable rebates, low-interest financing, and simple point-of-sale programs matter.

Public support for these programs is strong.

Clean Energy Canada research found three-quarters of respondents support incentives like rebates, zero-interest loans, and investment in public charging.

The independent CleanBC review’s core message is “a renewal of CleanBC, not a retreat,” guided by principles that include protecting affordability and providing policy certainty.

This budget is a chance to show what that renewal looks like.

First, protect and expand heat pump and home energy-efficiency support, prioritizing households with the highest energy burdens so programs cut costs instead of leaving people behind.

Second, make it simpler and more affordable to buy and charge EVs, including stable purchase incentives and charging where people live, work, and shop.

Third, invest in clean electricity and grid upgrades. Households cannot electrify, and the economy cannot grow, without abundant, reliable clean Canadian power.

Finally, provide a clear public response to the CleanBC review with timelines, so households and businesses are not left guessing.

British Columbians are not asking the province to do everything.

We are asking government to back the solutions that make life more affordable, safer, and more resilient. CleanBC programs are already doing that for thousands of households. This budget should ensure many more can benefit.

This post was co-authored by Adam Lynes-Ford and Yasmin Abraham and first appeared in the Vancouver Sun.

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Despite having worked in the climate space for a decade, I will be the first to admit that I’m not really one for protests. And yet I even showed up that day in 2019, alongside 100,000 of my fellow Vancouverites, as we took to the streets and called on global governments, including our own, to take real action on climate change.

It was a pretty mainstream affair as far as protests went. Signs ranged from “There is no Planet B” to concerns over fast fashion, parents brought their kids and even the cops seemed to be having a pleasant afternoon. Good, I thought at the time. Climate action needs to be mainstream action if politicians are to act.

Keep reading this in Canada’s National Observer.

The post Climate activism may be waning, but the age of clean technology adoption is just getting started appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

While Ontario Premier Doug Ford sharply opposed the federal government’s plan to allow 49,000 Chinese EVs into Canada at a low tariff rate — calling it lopsided and warning it would threaten Canada’s domestic industry — Prime Minister Mark Carney was quick to counter.

“We don’t want to be competitive in the market of 2000, 2010,” the prime minister said. “We want to become competitive in the market in the future.”

Last week, the federal government additionally announced it will give preferential access to Canada’s domestic market to foreign automakers that build vehicles here, rewarding them with lower tariffs. The details of this policy have not been released yet, but it’s clearly inspired by Canada’s success attracting Japanese manufacturers in the 1980s.

Together, these two announcements suggest that a step-change in Canada’s automotive industrial strategy is coming. By both allowing in a small quota of Chinese EVs and promising preferential market access to domestic producers, Canada could achieve competitiveness by incentivizing Chinese, Korean, and German firms to build here — so that we can learn from the best.

To understand this opportunity, it helps to zoom out and bring into focus both the future competitiveness of Canada’s auto sector and the broader supply chain behind it.

While Canada sat in the embarrassing position of being maybe the only country in the world with declining EV sales in 2025, according to an analysis of 50 major car markets, EVs had another record-breaking year globally: up 20 per cent, including 33 per cent in Europe and 48 per cent outside of Western countries and China. EVs made up one in four vehicles sold worldwide last year.

China is contributing to this trend by selling cars at home and making affordable, high-quality EVs available throughout the world. The International Energy Agency predicts EVs will exceed 40 per cent of global sales in 2030, with China poised to see a sales share of around 80 per cent by this time. Meanwhile, gas vehicle sales peaked in 2017.

While no Chinese investment in Canada was announced , both sides agreed to explore EV supply chain partnerships, with Carney targeting Chinese investment in Canada’s auto sector within three years. China is now setting the global standard on EV technology. A joint venture between Canada and a Chinese partner could, if done right, help bring the latter’s technology and know-how to our manufacturing base. Learning from China would focus Canadian industrial strategy on genuine technological capability.

Selective exposure to world leaders can also bring discipline to domestic manufacturers. While unrestricted exposure risks wiping out domestic industry as Premier Ford warned, controlled competition from low-cost, high-quality importers forces them to step up their game and learn. This drives innovation and productivity gains — while leading to better cars for consumers.

A commitment to the EV transition — if not via the Detroit Big Three, then by working with global leaders — also expands Canada’s economic opportunity beyond auto assembly and auto parts to include sectors in the upper and middle segments of the battery value chain, from critical minerals to battery materials and components. A focus on critical minerals also diversifies Canada’s export opportunities as we work to reduce reliance on the U.S. Only 41 per cent of Canada’s critical mineral exports went to the U.S. as of 2021, and Canada has since struck numerous strategic partnerships on critical minerals with non-U. S. trading partners.

If Canada is going to have an auto sector in the future — let alone a competitive one — it needs to produce high-quality, affordable EVs and the parts and materials that go into them. Ottawa is set to release a new auto strategy this February, which is expected to centre domestic EV production and offer more favourable Canadian market access to foreign companies that make cars in Canada. It’s the right move.

At the same time, tomorrow’s Canadian-located manufacturers will also need a guaranteed, growing market to scale into. Tools like Canada’s Electric Vehicle Availability Standard could be part of this broader strategy, rewarding producers that are manufacturing in Canada or bringing particularly affordable models to the marketplace. So could renewing consumer EV incentives, boosting government procurement, and building more charging infrastructure. We have a generational opportunity to learn from the best, reinvent our auto sector, and build up a sovereign supply chain that decreases our dependence on one country.

The car market of the future is a good one for Canada.

This post was co-authored by Bentley Allan and first appeared in the Toronto Star.

The post Here’s the truth: Canada can’t build the car market of the future without exposure to China appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

A number of organizations have popped up over the past several years with a core message that British Columbia is running out of electricity. For that reason, governments should pause programs aimed at accelerating electric vehicles and heat pump adoption along with electrifying new construction and heating. These groups point to the fact that—over the past several years of exceptional drought—the province has imported more electricity than it has exported. This signals that the province’s utilities are unable to meet current demand, let alone future demand.

This picture is not just incomplete—it’s largely incorrect.

First, the province’s electricity system is currently in good shape. With Site C now fully operational, B.C.’s energy exports are soaring. In addition, the province’s electricity grid can not only handle more EVs and heat pumps, but these technologies can reduce grid demand while saving British Columbians money.

The numbers speak for themselves. From January to October (the latest month data are available), BC Hydro was able to buy low and sell high—with electricity export prices almost 50 per cent higher than import prices—resulting in nearly $290 million more electricity exported than imported over the 10-month period. The completion of Site C in August further changed the game. For September and October—Site C’s first full operational months—B.C. exported 54 per cent more power than it imported, resulting in almost $247 million in electricity exports in just two months.

And remember, unlike other energy exports where most profits flow to foreign shareholders, BC Hydro is a Crown utility, meaning this $290 million stays right here in B.C., which translates directly into lower rates for you and me.

The second falsehood is that if British Columbians switch to EVs and heat pumps too quickly, then the grid will be compromised. Recent modelling commissioned by Clean Energy Canada concludes that switching all of B.C.’s heating and cooling systems to heat pumps would result in net savings of 800 gigawatt-hours per year—enough electricity saved to power around 75,000 homes—compared to current annual usage for heating and cooling. And on top of that, every home in B.C. would have efficient cooling. This is primarily because heat pumps are three to five times more efficient than the electric baseboards currently in 42 per cent of B.C. homes. It’s true that peak demand would still increase overall, but this can be managed with energy efficient building and modern technology—from smart thermostats to programmable water heaters to EV chargers and batteries that collectively help flatten peaks.

On EVs, BC Hydro estimates that meeting B.C.’s current EV sales target of 90 per cent by 2030 would only increase electricity demand by about two per cent. And how might EVs help make the grid stronger? In addition to measures like off-peak charging, there are EVs for sale right now that have vehicle-to-home capabilities, allowing your EV to provide power to your home in case of emergencies. And new EVs will soon be grid-enabled, meaning utilities—like BC Hydro and FortisBC—will be able to use your EV battery to reinforce the grid in times of need and recharge your EV when power is cheapest. In the next several years, your EV will not only be a grocery-getter but an important component in the province’s energy system.

Clean electricity is B.C.’s competitive advantage. This should be a no-regrets option and central to the province’s economic agenda. But if Premier David Eby indeed wants B.C. to be a “clean energy superpower,” his government needs to back up his vision with more than a just-in-time plan to meet our 2030 and 2035 electricity needs. This begins with predictable clean power calls from BC Hydro and starting now on the comprehensive planning of B.C.’s energy system out to 2050 that includes the integration and utilization of smarter technologies that make consumers part of the solution.

The pace and scale of electrification here in B.C. and globally is awe-inspiring. The province can either seize its advantage or watch from the sidelines. For now, there is no near-term threat to B.C.’s grid, even in our most climate-ambitious scenarios. Maintaining a healthy grid in the coming decades requires planning and investment now.

This post was co-authored by Evan Pivnick and first appeared in Business in Vancouver.

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