This piece was featured in The Hill Times on Monday, December 9, 2024
Hydropower is a key reason why Canada’s electricity grid produces over 80% of its power from renewable energy. Canada has harnessed the strength of our water resources to produce electricity for nearly 150 years. This non-emitting power source balances intermittent power sources like solar and wind power and allows our grids to work reliably, preventing surges or shortfalls in our national power supply.
Provinces that took advantage of their natural watersheds and built out hydro-power facilities are largely protected from rising fuel prices and the impacts of global markets on commodities like oil and gas.
Furthermore, thanks to the installed capacity of hydropower, Canada has been able to make progress towards its clean energy goal of reducing national emissions by 35 per cent, by 2035.
By using our natural landscape to generate dispatchable power, Canadians will have predictable energy prices for years to come and use hydropower to offset rising prices of other generation sources.
REGULATORY ALIGNMENT IS CRUCIAL TO SUPPORT THE RAPID CLEAN ENERGY EXPANSION OUR COUNTRY NEEDS
Achieving growth in Canada’s energy production to meet future demand will require unprecedented, concerted, and sustained efforts to build out our grids across the country. While the electrification process will take time, the need to begin is urgent and concrete policy actions are required today.
Canada’s current regulatory environment is not conducive to meeting these challenges.
Canada has tens of thousands of megawatts of hydropower potential, but complex federal regulatory processes, many of which duplicate requirements at the provincial level, hinder the progress of expansions and refurbishments. These requirements increase costs to Canadian families and businesses by hundreds of millions of dollars.
WaterPower Canada members are reinvesting in their existing assets and pursuing new hydropower and pumped storage facilities to meet growing demands for reliable generating capacity. To incent these investments and allow rapid growth of clean electricity generation and transmission, federal policies need to be aligned across the whole of government.
Currently, processes under the Fisheries Act, the Migratory Birds Regulations, and the Impact Assessment Act take more than half a decade to complete and add to regulatory uncertainty. Submissions for routine and small footprint activities are often met with demands for ‘more study’ and ‘more detail’ instead of specific guidance towards approval. This runs counter to our stated clean energy targets.
POLICY MAKERS NEED TO TAKE ACTION NOW
Federal and Provincial governments need to urgently take concrete policy actions to achieve meaningful progress to meet Canada’s electricity needs:
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Develop clear strategies to drive the electrification of Canada’s economy, including incentives, codes, and standards.
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Eliminate constraints and duplication in programs to expedite investment in clean electricity projects.
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Harmonize environmental assessment, permitting processes and policies and explicitly recognize the overarching importance of renewable energy projects. Find ways to reduce clean energy project approval timelines by half.
WaterPower Canada and its members are committed to responsible development and to work with governments, Indigenous groups, and communities to power Canada to a cleaner future.
We must start by making our regulatory framework match our goals to create jobs and increase clean energy production.
CANADA’S COMPETITIVENESS DEPENDS ON IT.
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