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100 per cent affordable, reliable, renewable electricity across Canada by 2035 is possible and will bring climate, health and economic benefits to communities.

Say YES to affordable, secure, renewable power by 2035

The federal government has wrapped up the public comment period for the draft Clean Electricity Regulations, released in Summer 2023. Thousands of people from across Canada weighed in, expressing their support for ambitious policy that delivers 100 per cent affordable, reliable, emissions-free electricity across Canada. Add your voice to the growing number of Canadians calling on our government to get this policy right and implement it without delay!

ADD YOUR VOICE

Renewable power for all is within reach

Achieving 100 per cent affordable, reliable, emissions-free electricity everywhere in Canada by 2035 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Multiple Canadian studies have shown it’s possible — including our own first-in-Canada research. Right now, it’s about getting it done.

This target is in line with the latest climate science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , modelling by the International Energy Agency, calls to action from United Nations secretary general António Guterres and Canada’s own international commitments to the UNFCCC and the G20 — and it’s in line with commitments of jurisdictions like the U.S., the .UK. and the EU.

As we move to clean, renewable electricity, we also move to more affordable energy for households in Canada. This is in part because renewable electricity sources like wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of electricity in history.

Achieving this 2035 target will also come with hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs in Canada, better air quality for everyone and real opportunities for Indigenous Nations to own, develop and benefit from renewable electricity projects on their territories.

Stephen Thomas, Clean Energy Manager, Climate Solutions

Implementing ambitious Clean Electricity Regulations that deliver these immense benefits will be no small undertaking, but with the overwhelming support of 71 per cent of people living in Canada, we can make it happen.

Threats

Like most climate policies in Canada, this target is under attack by the fossil fuel lobby. They want loopholes to allow new fossil fuel projects to connect to the grid, and to allow those projects to keep polluting for decades to come. They are fighting for continued excess profits — and against the health, wellbeing and job opportunities for people in Canada.

This is why we need to work together to show support for 100 per cent affordable, reliable, renewable power for all by 2035.

RENEWABLE POWER FOR ALL

Say YES to affordable, secure, renewable power by 2035

HAVE YOUR SAY

What if we told you a future powered by 100 per cent renewable power was possible?

Imagine turning on the lights at home knowing the electricity you’re using is 100 per cent emissions-free. Guess what? Our modelling shows that we can have affordable, reliable, 100 per cent emissions-free electricity across Canada by 2035. We can make it happen with renewable sources like wind and solar, combined with energy storage, better transmission, and energy efficiency measures.

Our ground-breaking research

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“Shifting Power: Zero-Emissions Electricity Across Canada by 2035” details the first-of-its-kind research in Canada to model a pathway to 100 per cent zero-emissions electricity by 2035, ensuring we can meet our increasing electricity demand when and where we need it.

View the report

Key findings

Lightning bolt graphic with text saying Shifting Power: Zero-Emissions Electricity Across Canada by 2035 - a report.
  • It’s possible: One hundred per cent zero-emissions electricity is possible in Canada by 2035 by primarily relying on wind and solar, and the technologies that enable them. TWEET THIS
  • It’s reliable: Energy efficiency, energy storage, existing hydroelectricity and grid connections between provinces work together so we can meet our demands for electricity where and when we need it. TWEET THIS
  • It’s affordable: Relying primarily on renewables like wind and solar is an affordable way to meet climate targets and the growing demand for electricity. It’s cheaper than business-as-usual alternatives. TWEET THIS
  • It creates new jobs in clean energy: Construction, operation and maintenance employment alone will grow to more than 75,000 jobs a year, resulting in close to two million job-years between 2025 and 2050. TWEET THIS
  • It meets climate goals: By switching out fossil fuel–powered electricity for cleaner, renewable sources, Canada can reduce emissions by more than 27 per cent, which is needed to meet its net-zero 2050 goal. TWEET THIS
  • It’s a win for the environment: The path to clean electricity does not need new large hydroelectricity or nuclear generation and avoids expensive and immature carbon capture and storage technologies. With careful planning and siting, we can limit landscape and biodiversity impacts of a growing number of renewable projects. TWEET THIS

View the report

Decarbonizing electricity requires decolonizing power

decarbonizing-electricity-and-decolonizing-power-report
“Decarbonizing Electricity and Decolonizing Power: Voices, Insights and Priorities from Indigenous Clean Energy Leaders,” authored by Neegan Burnside and Dean Jacobs, draws on interviews with Indigenous clean energy leaders and sets out six principles for upholding Indigenous rights and ensuring communities benefit in the transition to 100 per cent clean electricity in Canada. All existing and future energy projects in Canada are located on either unceded Indigenous territories or treaty lands. As such, the clean electricity transition will only succeed with full Indigenous consent and participation that upholds Indigenous rights and title. . View the report

Affordability, equity and access

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“Keeping the Lights On: Ensuring energy affordability, equity and access in the transition to clean electricity in Canada” focuses on energy poverty in the context of a people-centred transition in Canada. Almost one in 10 Canadian households spends more than 10 per cent of its income on energy bills. Many experience energy poverty, struggling to have a sufficient level of energy services. This can have damaging effects on health, resiliency, social relationships and, in extreme cases, survival. The transition to 100 per cent renewable electricity must be equitable to ensure those made most vulnerable by our current electricity system are the first to benefit from the energy transition. View the report

How Canada can fast-track emissions reductions

The “Zeroing in on Emissions: Charting Canada’s Clean Power Pathways” study (also available in French) identifies 10 strategies and approaches that experts agree will be essential to fast-track Canada’s decarbonization efforts. This review of decarbonization studies and models is a litmus test for effective climate plans that can reduce emissions to near zero by 2050.

 

Ten strategies and actions essential to any clean power climate plan

FAQs

  • Yes. The results challenge those who claim that renewables can’t play a leading role in the clean electricity transition. The sun may not always shine and the wind may not always blow, but the combination of solutions that are modelled in this report shows how a grid largely powered by renewables can deliver clean electricity reliably where and when it is needed across the country. Improvements to energy efficiency and battery storage technologies are essential.

    The scale of transformation is daunting. It would require an average annual build-out of wind and solar electricity projects never before seen in Canada. An average of more than 2,200 new four-MW wind turbines would be installed every year and more than 160 new 10-MW solar farms would be built each year. Interprovincial transmission will also need to expand at an unprecedented rate. An equivalent rate of adding renewable projects is already planned in places like Germany. By early 2022, Germany had installed 28,000 onshore wind turbines. By 2025, the country expects to be adding 10 GW of wind annually, similar to what our modelling scenarios would require.

  • Yes. Building out wind and solar at this scale would affect large areas. Careful planning is needed to ensure that renewable infrastructure and transmission lines are located in landscapes in ways that minimize negative impacts on biodiversity. Where possible, all infrastructure projects should be evaluated for their potential to support biodiversity recovery and incorporate natural infrastructure.

    Impacts differ. In some agricultural landscapes, for example, wind farms can be located with relatively little impact. Areas that supply critical habitat for migratory birds would likely be poor candidates for a wind farm location. Likewise, prime agricultural lands are better suited for food production and would be a poor choice, in most instances, for locating a solar farm (though solar PV on farm buildings make good sense and can reduce farmers’ energy costs). Where possible, existing linear infrastructure, such as railway rights-of-way or highway corridors, should be considered for transmission lines to avoid additional habitat fragmentation.

  • The electricity system of the future will operate differently than the one we have today. Sharing wind, solar and hydro resources within and between provinces will make Canada’s electricity grid more reliable and flexible. Connections between regions together with energy storage and other grid upgrades will make it easier to deliver electricity where and when it’s needed.

    Sharing electricity between provinces will also cost less as the grid expands than having provinces rely on their own, separate systems. All provinces, regardless of their current electricity systems, can realize real benefits to a more connected electricity grid.

  • Indigenous world views and knowledge need to be incorporated and respected within broader societal and economic value systems;

    Meaningful, rights-based and consent-based consultation must become common practice for all clean energy projects;

    Existing Indigenous leadership needs to be honoured and advanced through support for capacity, ownership opportunities and jobs;

    Indigenous leaders require a seat at decision-making tables, as decarbonizing electricity must also mean decolonizing power structures;

    Solving systemic infrastructure gaps for Indigenous communities through focused just transition measures must be prioritized as part of the clean energy transition; and

    Economic reconciliation must be central to the clean energy transition by removing barriers to accessing financial capital, ownership and other project benefits.

  • All models have limitations and are not predictive by design. The modelling simplifies the real world, seeking only least-cost solutions to building out future generation, storage and transmission capacity to meet future energy demand within scenario settings and constraints. Other factors will need to influence the grid of the future, including local preference for what renewable generation is built where, how provincial grid interties are strengthened and how electricity markets are structured. These pathways need to be technically feasible and socially acceptable.

    Off-grid and remote electricity systems and territorial grids or non-integrated electricity systems are beyond the scope of this report. Technologies such as offshore wind, geothermal generation, distributed energy resources, demand response, green hydrogen and hybrid projects (e.g., a project where solar generation and battery storage are bundled) were also beyond its scope.

  • Government has already made concessions to industry, including delaying the release of the Clean Fuel Regulations from 2020 to 2023, and removing heating oil and gaseous and solid fuels from the agreement, leaving only gasoline and diesel covered. Industry has had three years to prepare for these regulations.

  • The Clean Fuel Regulations are a polluter-pay policy focused on refinery operations. They include flexibility to incentivize innovation. It is irresponsible for industry to pass on increased costs to consumers when their own inaction is causing problems.

  • Delaying the implementation of these regulations is not a viable option. We are already experiencing Canada’s worst wildfires in history and we’re just near the beginning of summer. Climate regulations like Clean Fuel Regulations are needed to drive down emissions and lessen the impacts of severe and more frequent fires, floods and droughts. Climate inaction or delay costs us more in the long run. 

  • Yes. They are based on a worstcase scenario by the PBO that ignores the benefits, overstates the costs on household budgets and neglects the costs of using alternative mechanisms to reduce emissions. 

  • There is much economic potential in climate action: the regulations position Canada to compete in the global decarbonizing economy, attracting new investments and creating tangible benefits.

Expert views