N.S. premier says grid connectivity is key, looks forward to Ottawa’s electricity plan

Many provinces say they can more easily trade energy with the U.S. than with their Canadian neighbours.

Ottawa’s new clean electricity plan was announced Thursday, and the Prime Minister wants to rewire the country and make it easier to share green energy with other provincial and territorial partners.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said many provinces can trade energy with the United States much easier than their own neighbouring provinces.

Carney insists Canada can be an energy superpower, but it has to act now.

“Canada’s government is launching today consultations on our new electricity strategy, and over the next few months will work with provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, utilities, unions to identify the actions needed to double our grid most effectively and affordably to connect our power in Canada East, West, North,” said Carney during a news conference in Ottawa Thursday morning.

But as it stands, Canada’s power grid remains too fragmented according to the Prime Minister.

“Today Canada is powered by separate electricity grids, most of which aren’t connected to each other,” said Carney. “In many cases, it’s easier to trade electricity with the United States than across our own country.”

The clean electricity plan calls on doubling energy capacity on the grid to meet the demand which will only climb in the coming years, as more people electrify their homes, vehicles and factories.

“This will require bold investments, practical solutions focused on results, not rhetoric,” said Carney. “And the full force of a united Canada working together.”

There’s an urgency to getting these independent power grids connected with high voltage transmission lines. And it will be expensive, with the federal government estimating costs will top $1 trillion before the work is done.

Carney said there’s a comprehensive transmission interconnectivity investment strategy that will be added to the Major Projects Office, which will help to spread out construction costs over time.

Many energy experts like Thomas Arnason McNeil, a senior energy coordinator with the Halifax based Ecology Action Centre, says Canada is far behind in its green energy power infrastructure.

“The clock is kind of ticking for the federal government to really articulate, I think what they are going to do in terms of financial support,” said Arnason McNeil. “They mentioned some financial support mechanisms, but we haven’t seen anything concrete.”

Arnason McNeil says he believes we’re at a fork in the road when it comes to this clean energy transition and meeting green energy targets, and without an urgency to connect the grids, we may have to continue further down the road of oil and gas.

“Any further delays just open up more opportunity at the end of the day for gas companies to step in and say, ‘Hey, we’ll meet that demand,’” said Arnason McNeil.

In Nova Scotia, Premier and Energy Minister Tim Houston says grid connectivity is key to growing clean energy solutions like offshore wind and looks forward to hearing more about Ottawa’s plan.

“I’m just excited about the opportunities we have for energy in general,” said Houston. “But discussions with them around transmission and what they are talking about today is what we have been talking with them as well.”

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