OTTAWA, Ontario - August 28, 2015. The Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) welcomes yesterday’s infrastructure announcement from the Liberal Party of Canada as evidence of a growing national acknowledgement of Canada’s infrastructure deficit and a willingness to address this critical issue.
“As it relates to the electricity sector, Mr. Trudeau’s infrastructure program specifically addresses a number of important priorities for the renewal and rebuild of the electricity system”, said the Hon. Sergio Marchi, President and CEO of the Canadian Electricity Association. “Ensuring the future reliability, sustainability, and affordability of electricity is our number one priority, so we welcome this announcement. It should form part of a national discourse that is urgently needed.”
The Liberal Party of Canada proposal includes a Green Bonds initiative that looks to be especially promising. The projects targeted by this program --- including the electrification of transportation, smart grid technology, transmission lines for renewable energy, electric vehicle charging stations, and clean power storage -- align with the key technology areas that are shaping tomorrow’s electricity system. These technologies are highlighted in CEA’s recent report Electric Utility Innovation: Toward Vision 2050, and include electric vehicles, distributed generation and grid modernization.
Canada’s infrastructure deficit, including the renewal of Canada’s electricity system, should be a primary focus area of policy discussions taking place during the current election campaign. The Conference Board of Canada estimated that $350 Billion will need to be invested in upgrading electricity infrastructure during the next 20 years. CEA is encouraged by this announcement and looks forward to seeing more details as they are released, as well as other proposals put forward by the other parties.
Click here to access the Electric Utility Innovation: Toward Vision 2050 Report.