Current Affairs

Issue 72 - December 2024

Meet the Corporate Partners

Electricity Canada’s Corporate Partner program is home to nearly 100 companies who provide services or solutions to all aspects of the electricity sector. The program is offered as a space where innovative thought leaders can connect with electricity leaders and showcase their expertise. Current Affairs sat down with Faran Mirza, Manager of the Corporate Partner program and events to learn more.

Hi Faran, thank you for joining us. Talk to us about the Corporate Partners – who are they and why do they make a difference to Electricity Canada and our membership?

Electricity Canada's Corporate Partners are suppliers and vendors that offer solutions to the electricity industry. Our partners are vital to our membership is because they bring a wealth of expertise and thought leadership and knowledge. They're working on research and innovations on a daily basis and they're providing innovative solutions which can help our members solve their day-to-day and long-term challenges.

What are the benefits of joining the program?

The benefit for our members is the opportunity to learn from the expertise of our partners. They can learn about the innovations and the research and the problems that our partners are solving with the products and services they are developing.

It also gives our partners the opportunity to connect with their clientele and potential future customers and build relationships with them. Electricity Canada is broken down into roughly 40 councils and committees and we facilitate matching our partners with the right group to share their solutions so they can segment their thought leadership and cater to each council or committee’s needs.

What kind of opportunities are available for Corporate Partners in 2025?

In the coming year, Corporate Partners will have the opportunity to attend a number of Electricity Canada events, starting with DistribuTech. It’s actually one of the biggest electricity events in the world! We host a big reception for Canadian delegates, which is always popular and give members and Corporate Partners a chance to meet face to face.

We host networking events with each of our major councils: Customer Council, Generation Council, Transmission Council and Distribution Council. At those events partners will get the chance to meet and mingle with the Executives.

With our Supply Chain Committee, we host an annual “speed dating” event, which is a facilitated meet and greet with members. Partners and members will pair up and chat for about 5 minutes and switch off to the next person. It’s a great way to maximize one on one time.

Many more events are added throughout the year and we always come up with spontaneous opportunities to get everyone together. Our committees will often be looking Corporate Partners to participate in their meetings for presentations or speaking engagements as a subject matter expert

What have been some of the highlights of the Corporate Partner program over the past couple of years?

The Corporate Partner program has experienced tremendous growth over the past five to six years. One of the big highlights has been aligning with our partners at our annual Powering Partnerships event. They have been vital to its overall growth and have supported the programming by sitting on panels, and moderating sessions. Those have been really key for us.
They've allowed us to run new events like Faces of the Industry last spring, which was such a success that we will be hosting it again in 2025!

Overall, it has been very positive, and we look forward to seeing the program grow in the coming years. We have about 90 + Corporate Partners on an annual basis, essentially doubling since 2018. The variety of Corporate Partners who are signing on and offering different expertise has been growing. As the electricity sector changes and the priorities of our members change, so we are growing to match that need with subject matter experts offering unique solutions.

What do you like the most about working with our Corporate Partners?

I think the best part is building relationships and learning about what each Corporate Partner does. There is so much being done in the industry that's new daily it is hard to keep up. Every day, I get to learn from our partners about some of the new innovations they're working on to solve our industries short term and long-term challenges which is really cool.
Finding ways to connect the partners to the right members that will take advantage and tap into their expertise is a good challenge, and it’s fun on a daily basis.

For more information on Electricity Canada’s Corporate Partner program, please contact info@electricity.ca.

Electricity Canada discusses “What happens when..” in the electricity sector at Powering Partnerships Symposium

On November 26^th, Electricity Canada members including CEO’s, senior executives, corporate partners, electricity sector stakeholders and elected officials will meet in Toronto, Ontario for our annual Powering Partnerships symposium. Current Affairs sat down with Julia Muggeridge, Vice President of Communications and Sustainability, to learn all about it.

Hi Julia, thank you for joining us! This year, our Powering Partnerships theme tackles a big question “what happens when”. Talk to us about the inspiration for this theme?

The inspiration from this year’s theme comes from looking at the hypothetical, applying it to real situations and then forecasting it out to the future. Last year’s theme was “the future of” and it gave us the opportunity to fill in the blanks with all of the different issues facing the sector. This year we are doing something similar.

How is "what happens when?" relevant to the electricity sector?

From extreme weather to a cyber breach – these are all things our member companies have experienced. They are able to learn from previous events and look ahead to how to overcome those challenges better in the future. This theme is focused around that perspective, about learning from the past to tackle the present and the future.

We are looking at a mix of moderated panels, armchair discussions and keynotes for this year’s line up. Who can we expect to see?

We have an awesome lineup for this year’s Powering Partnerships event. To kick off our day, we have the launch of Electricity Now, which is a Grade 9 and 10 electricity curriculum and that should be fantastic! It's big news for our sector and we’re excited to be making waves in the education space following the success of our online Electricity Fundamentals in Canada course that was developed a few years ago.

There will be a keynote from Gary Smith, an Executive Vice President at Fortis Inc. who is going to be talking about some of the powerful storms we have been hearing about in the news.

We are going to be talking about the energy transition through a panel discussion and how that specifically affects affordability with speakers from some of our member companies, as well as some of the major banks in Canada like BMO.

And we’re talking a little bit about how to predict the unpredictable. We are bringing in Jim Robb, President and CEO from the North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) as well as Monica Gattinger from Positive Energy to have a really good discussion on that.

We will be finishing up the day with Sean Cullen, he is a fantastic comedian and one that I think the whole audience will enjoy!

Which discussion are you most looking forward to and why?

As much I find the technology and the reliability and the cyber discussions are interesting, I always really like the conversations that are about the people behind the sector.
So, I'm actually really looking forward to the last panel of the day, which is going to be focused on culture. We have specifically called this one “what happens when your company needs to change its culture” and it's going to pull in that technology piece by looking at artificial intelligence and how now influence the way that we work. So many people are affected by this changing community!

We brought in a speaker from Shopify to talk through their experience about going completely online and getting rid of all of their real estate since COVID, a behavioural psychologist from BE Wworks and then one of our member companies that has been really focused on culture to have the discussion.

What is one takeaway you want the audience to leave with after the Symposium?

Because the theme is so broad, what I would like the audience to walk away with is “wow, the electricity sector is really thinking about the future”!So even if they walk away with one topic that they want to explore further, or a speaker that they want to look up that would mean that the event was meaningful enough that they understand that the sector isn't just moving ahead. The electricity sector is actually thinking about how we can accomplish the big tasks that have been put in front of us.

For more information on Powering Partnerships, please visit our website.

Growth in Mutual Assistance

When extreme weather or other damaging events occur within a specific service territory, utilities can call on neighbouring utilities to assist in the restoration process called ‘mutual assistance’. In 2021, Electricity Canada developed a pilot program to act as the single point of contact for our members to assist in this mass coordination effort in case of emergencies. From ice storms, to derechos, to hurricanes, utilities that participate in mutual assistance agreements have access 24/7 support. Current Affairs sits down with Shelley Levoy, Manager, Distribution and Mutual Assistance to the past, present and future of the program.

Hi Shelley, thanks for joining us. Electricity Canada’s Ontario Mutual Assistance Group has grown over the last year! Talk to us about that growth.

Absolutely! The Ontario Mutual Assistance Group (OnMAG) has been steadily growing, and we now have 31 utility members, covering 91% of customers across Ontario. With this growth, we've organized into sub-regions to enhance efficiency and streamline restoration efforts.

Ontario is a province that spans 1,568 kilometers and includes three distinct climates. At some point in the future, we may be working to restore regions of Ontario affected by separate weather events. Ensuring we are well-practiced now to operate in regions that will serve us in actual situations in the future.

What is happening with the Canadian Mutual Assistance Group (CanMAG)?

In late 2023, we revitalized and updated the Canadian Mutual Assistance Agreement as a membership to enhance its effectiveness. Since then, we’ve actively encouraged all Canadian utilities to sign on. Our goal with the Agreement is to build a framework that will ensure our members experience a streamlined response during crises, eliminating key coordination challenges. Strengthening our national resilience regarding extensive restoration ensures faster, more organized support.

Right now, we're seeing momentum with our OnMAG members signing onto CanMAG, which broadens the pool of available resources for all our members. For example, if a utility from the East Coast needs help, they are not part of OnMAG, which is an Ontario program. But if the East Coast utility in our example has signed CanMAG and the Ontario utilities offering to send support have signed CanMAG, we're all connected and able to assist each other, no matter where the need arises!

There have been rumours about "TechMAG". Tell us about that.

Lately, it seems in all directions, there's been a shift in focus to cybersecurity— we know it's top of mind for our board and our members. We're working on a cybersecurity-focused mutual assistance agreement, similar to the Canada Mutual Assistance Agreement, specifically for cyber events. We're calling it the Technology Mutual Assistance Group, or TechMAG. Well, that's the working title. The idea is to create a roster of qualified experts who can assist utilities during a cybersecurity event or attack. We aim to launch in spring 2025 and are currently drafting the agreement and building the framework.

Looking ahead, we recognize that a utility could face a physical and cyber attack simultaneously, so getting TechMAG up and running is a top priority. Our future goals include hosting exercises to develop a framework for coordinating physical and cyber responses effectively, ensuring we're prepared for that dual-threat scenario.

What are upcoming developments in the mutual assistance space that you're looking forward to in the coming year and what is the most exciting?

As part of CanMAG, we're in the early stages of working with our U.S. partners along the Canada-U.S. border to improve cross-border mutual assistance efforts. Right now, each border crossing has different requirements, which can slow down emergency restoration efforts. We're mapping out how to standardize the process for moving crews and equipment across the border by land, air, and water so they can get to work as quickly as possible.

An exciting OnMAG development, we met at Hydro Ottawa this week. Part of our meeting focused on standardizing resources and best practices. For example, standardizing equipment names across companies would make it easier to share resources efficiently. We're also looking to streamline procedures for crews arriving on site, ensuring they have the correct information, permits, and local guidance to hit the ground running. It's all about improving communication and ensuring everyone is on the same page.

What do you like best about working in the mutual assistance community?

The people. This is a corny answer, for sure, but let me give you context. I have a long career in fundraising, and I have met my share of people who do good work. Everyone I have encountered in the mutual assistance space knows what they're talking about, and they are confident in what they're doing. There's a level of patience, understanding, and ease of explanation in everything that they do.

They focus on being efficient without compromising safety, with two top objectives: getting everyone home and logging how we can improve on what was done last time.

For more information on Electricity Canada’s Mutual Assistance Program, contact info@electricity.ca

Canada needs electricity regulations that work in the real world

The draft Clean Electricity Regulations (CERs) were released in August of 2023. Since then, Electricity Canada and its members have consistently engaged with the federal government on the proposed rules, the modelling behind them, and what the potential impacts might be for the electricity sector and broader economy.

In late August, Electricity Canada CEO Francis Bradley was interviewed by the Globe and Mail to discuss some of the chief concerns that industry has when it comes to the achievability of the proposed regulations in certain jurisdictions. We also took our concerns public and launched an online ad campaign to increase awareness about the potential reliability and affordability concerns associated with an unachievable final regulation. Current Affairs sat down with Electricity Canada’s Vice President of Government Relations Michael Powell to discuss the importance of getting these new regulations right.

Hi Mike, thanks for joining us. Why are the Clean Electricity Regulations important-- not just to the electricity sector, but Canadians generally?

The Clean Electricity Regulations will limit how much electricity can be generated using emitting sources in 2035 and beyond. Today, Canada’s electricity system is over 84% non-emitting, so we are starting from a good place. But the remaining 16% will be the most difficult to reduce, especially as we work to double or even triple the size of the grid by 2050.

These rules would have the greatest impact in specific provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Emitting sources of generation continue to play a key role in providing baseload power in these, so it’s really important to get the rules right. It will be vital that the right flexibilities are included to ensure that reliability and affordability can be maintained beyond 2035.

The Clean Electricity Regulations are also important to get right because they will have an impact on our ability to successfully electrify the Canadian economy and reduce overall emissions. Although the electricity sector represents just 47 Mt of carbon emissions, the Canada Electricity Advisory Council highlighted that we have the potential to reduce 268 Mt of carbon emissions from other sectors by 2050. Doing so can only happen if we can keep electricity affordable and reliable.

What would you say are the biggest issues that need to be resolved when it comes to the CERs and the electricity sector?

We're worried that when the government sets these rules, they're going to choose a path that is too stringent. This would make it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for grid operators to keep the system reliable for Canadians.

Every province and territory in Canada is starting from a different place when it comes to decarbonization of the system. Some provinces will have a bigger lift simply because of the natural resources that they have available. Right now, we are concerned that if we don't see sufficient flexibility in the final regulations there is a potential for blackouts and brownouts in these jurisdictions.

The online ads Electricity Canada put out on August 23^rd say the CERs will lead to problems with reliability and affordability. How will this be the case?

First of all, it's important to remember that the regulations have not yet been finalized. The reason we're running a campaign is to ensure the Canadian public and federal decisionmakers are aware of the risks when it comes to not getting them right.

Getting them right means that independent system operators and utilities in all provinces can see a path towards meeting the regulations. They are the experts in building the system and providing electricity every day of the year. Their voice is crucial.

We're all working towards building a cleaner electricity grid. Significant work is underway across Canada on nuclear projects, refurbishing and adding hydro, and building more wind, solar and batteries. This is exciting and important to our energy future. However, we need to be mindful about what is feasible in these tight timelines while ensuring all Canadians have power. We're experiencing the fastest rate of growth in electricity demand in a couple of generations. These are big problems, but they require thoughtfulness and balance.

If we are going to get there, we really need to make sure we have tools that are available, dispatchable, flexible and affordable. While we build a future and invest in the scaling clean technologies, we need to understand that getting there will take time. On the road to that future, we will need to ensure that the lights can stay on for every Canadian household.

The way the regulations are drafted right now, in the jurisdictions that have the greatest challenge, they can’t yet guarantee that will happen.

What need to be the next steps to make the CERs workable. Where do we go from here?

The Government of Canada is going to be making a decision in the next couple of months on what the final regulations will look like. Our sector in the meantime will continue to be clean and getting cleaner.

What we hope to see is a final regulation that is sufficiently flexible so that a system operator in any of the jurisdictions can see a path with which reliability and affordability aren’t a serious concern. It has to work using the tools and the technologies that we have today, and it has to do so in a way that is sensible for customers. We will continue to engage and provide our perspective to this end. This is too important to get wrong.

The Canadian Customer

The electricity sector in Canada is constantly innovating, and customers expect more from their local utility because of it. Electricity Canada’s new report “A 360-degree customer view : an industry looking to empower the customer” describes how to use available data to build on customer interactions and build trust. Current Affairs sits down with Dan Gent, Director of Transmission and Reliability lead to discuss.

Hi Dan, thanks for joining us. What is a 360-customer view and why is it so important for the electricity sector to adopt?

The 360-degree customer view is a tool with the idea that it's going to give you a look at the customer and focus on them, from the first time they sign up with the utility, to the end. With the complete picture of the customer, it gives the utility information about their initial service or connection, the amount of outages they experience, or the invoices they receive or the programs they sign up for like energy efficiency programs.

It also gives you a good understanding of where they sit in the market. Are they educated or are they high income? Do what size of house do they have? Are they a business owner, do they have multiple locations?

All of that also comes into play. With this information, utilities can break the customer down into different segments.

Tell us a little bit about who was involved in creating this report.

In June of last year, Electricity Canada’s Customer Council and Technology Committee got together at ENMAX in Calgary. They discussed, presented and had open conversations regarding what is customer solutions of the future going to be and the 360-degree customer view was really the focus of that conversation and how to go about building it.

After copious amounts of note taking, the information was given to the Data Strategy Group to put together a model and framework that made the tool come to life.

What challenges do utilities face when trying to connect with their customers and what kind of technology can help with this?

Utilities have a lot of data already! We have all the technical stuff like usage data, voltage levels, how often they lose power etc. Those are customer touch points, but we need to take a deeper look into those things to understand the sentiment of the customer. And quite often, the sentiment data is hiding behind all of the technical insights. By breaking things down and analyzing things from a marketing perspective, you can really create an accurate profile of who is using your services and what they need.

If you think about it, someone who already owns an electric vehicle will most likely be interested in electrification in other ways around their home, so that customer is someone you can target with programming or products that can help with that. Artificial intelligence is going to be a big tool in how to organize all that data and automate that decision making.

In this industry, our idea of the customer really has changed over the years. Why do you think that Canadian’s are so connected to where their electricity comes from and how that process works?

There's a change of mindset in the customer base for sure in the electricity sector. More people are concerned of where their electricity is coming from and want to make sure their footprint is not that big. More and more people are becoming educated on that aspect because of the changing climate.

The other aspect that's also moving along is digitization or digital technology. People want customized and personalized solutions like they have in other industries, and if the utility can the helpful energy advisor to their customers and provide tools that are personalized to them, that's great.

Where do you think customer interactions will go in the future?

I think it's going to be much more personalized. It's going to be more digitized, and I think that the utility is going to get more empathetic. By the time you pick up the phone and call the call centre, the person on the line will probably already know who you are and what you need and will have a better understanding of your situation so they can help you.

Customer interactions will go beyond what’s in the invoice. With more information available to them, they want energy efficiency solutions and behind-the-meter solutions, and integrated solutions with the latest digital capabilities.

What is the most important take away from the report?

Well, there are a lot of recommendations in the report that utilities can act on. But I think what goes beyond and what's really important is that, with the 360-degree customer view the company must become even more customer centric. That customer service and customer focused culture needs to be enhanced even further. And that is probably the most important aspect of the of the whole report.

The 360-Customer View report is available here . The accompanying blog Changing customer needs and how to find them discusses the key recommendations of maintaining a positive customer relationship in the changing world.

Electricity Canada releases new report “Always On”

It is no secret that the Canadian electricity grid is going through big changes, faster than ever before. Electricity Canada’s new publication “Electricity in Canada: Always On” discusses the new age definition of ‘reliability’ and how it will affect the energy transition from electrification to aging infrastructure. Joe McKinnon, Manager, Economic Regulations & Standards at Electricity Canada sits down with Current Affairs to explain.

Why is reliability so important?

Reliability is one part of “energy trilemma” as we call it. As we pursue a decarbonized and expanded grid to meet our net zero goals, we must consider how to achieve reliability, affordability, and sustainability - the trilemma.

In recent years, sustainability has become the larger buzzword of the three for policy impacting the electricity sector. Even so, electricity providers have not forgotten the importance of reliability. It's a pressing issue that is consistently integrated into modelling and investment planning for service providers. However there are diverging priorities between utilities, regulators, and policymakers. That, and the rapidly shifting energy landscape, has led to the relegation of reliability considerations. Ultimately, everyone needs to understand that fundamental priority for electricity providers is ensuring that the lights are “Always on”!

Tell us about who was involved to create this report and why?

Tom Chapmen and Dr. Kathleen Spees from the Brattle group developed the report though primary research gathered from our membership. The substance of the report was developed though the industry expertise of Electricity Canada’s network. Thanks to the practical knowledge of our membership, the authors at the Brattle group were able to bring theoretical concepts to a practical level.

What do utilities need regulators to do most when it comes to making the grid ready for net zero?

Net zero is a huge challenge. Policy is driving this massive shift in our economy which is changing the energy landscape dramatically. This requires major investment and innovation from the electricity sector, but change can't be facilitated at the rate required through outdated and rigid regulatory frameworks.

Regulators across the country need to provide utilities with greater flexibility when it comes to rate submissions and rate design, as well as hold a progressive understanding of what should be considered reasonable investment for cost recovery through the rate base. While the principles behind rate design in Canada aren't outdated, interpretations of these principles can be.

Clean energy investments often require incremental reliability investment beyond typical replacement capacity cost. So, we need flexible application periods for utilities to manage evolving trends in supply and demand. And we need forward-looking, multi-year revenue plans with profit and loss sharing mechanisms that would provide utilities with greater ability to manage the considerable risks associated with investing to meet uncertain future needs.

In addition to flexibility, we need clarity. Regulators need to provide clear guidance for those utilities seeking to invest in grid modernization and develop distributed system operator capability.

What were the big recommendations made in "Always On"?

Always On makes the case for the importance for prioritizing reliability as the central consideration of planning our energy future.

Some of the big takeaways include:

· That we need greater coordination between utilities, policy makers, and regulators to set a strategic direction that optimizes the utility business model. Enhanced industry engagement for policy planning and implementation is required. There needs to be opportunities to engage in greater regional planning. Early and active industry engagement in policy development not only orients policy and planning goals towards achievable targets, it reduces inefficient regulatory burden.

· We need to meet energy needs across all hours – and not just peak times. In order to determine full resource adequacy needs, new assessments will be required to ensure that all potential grid disturbances are captured.

· Regulators need to develop more flexible financing mechanisms that allow utilities to seek approval for and recover prudently incurred net zero transition costs.

· Regulators and utilities need to proactively mitigate extreme weather risk by facilitating grid hardening investment. This needs to be based on long-term future projections, rather than historical events.

· Targeted funding is needed to address utility capital constraints, facilitate investments in infrastructure, and support the most impacted provincial economies. The current financing frameworks, which focuses on incenting efficiency and maximizing asset utilization, have recently had an impact on utilities access to capital for long term reliability investments. Targeted public funded can bridge this gap in capital.

Where should we start?

Regulators and policy makers need to provide more opportunities for regulatory innovation, experimentation, and flexibility. This can be done by establishing regulatory working groups and innovation sandboxes that look to coordinate policy preferences, regulation, and needs to utilities.

Across all jurisdictions regulators and policymakers should establish rate frameworks that acknowledge that reliability investments are “used and useful” allowing easier cost recovery for utilities.

Target funding from governments needs to be available to utilities given the capital constraints for these net zero investments. An expanded and decarbonized grid, pushed for by government policy, needs to be supported through ample government incentives.

Click here to read the report.

Meet the Corporate Partners

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Electricity Canada discusses “What happens when..” in the electricity sector at Powering Partnerships Symposium

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Growth in Mutual Assistance

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Canada needs electricity regulations that work in the real world

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The Canadian Customer

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Electricity Canada releases new report “Always On”

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Meet the Corporate Partners

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Electricity Canada discusses “What happens when..” in the electricity sector at Powering Partnerships Symposium

Other Stories

Growth in Mutual Assistance

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Canada needs electricity regulations that work in the real world

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The Canadian Customer

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Electricity Canada releases new report “Always On”

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