For many decades now, B.C. has been in the enviable position of having abundant, affordable electricity thanks to forward-looking planning and investments as far back as the 1970s. Even as recently as 2021, BC Hydro expected to have a surplus of power and concluded there was no need for additional generating capacity until after 2032.
Suddenly, that perspective is changing. One in five new vehicles sold in the province last year was electric, while most homeowners are warming up to heat pumps, putting upward pressure on the province’s electricity system. In addition, business electricity connection requests to BC Hydro have grown to an extent that the provincial government took the unprecedented step to suspend new requests from cryptocurrency mining operations.
The pace and scale of electrification is so rapid that BC Hydro was forced to amend its 2021 10-year integrated resource plan last year in response to changes in forecasted load growth, concluding that B.C. needed significant new short-term investment in electricity generation and transmission.
This rapid disruption is not just confined to B.C. U.S. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and California’s climate policies have driven growth to a level where renewable energy is now powering 100 per cent of California’s electricity grid during parts of the day, setting up instances where B.C. is paid to take power from the southwest U.S. Meanwhile, climate change is affecting reservoir levels and hydroelectric production throughout the western continent as well as impacting transmission infrastructure through wildfires and heat waves.
What does all this mean for the province’s energy system? First, the status quo won’t cut it anymore. B.C. is expecting to need to double or even triple the size of its grid over the next couple of decades. In addition, cheap renewables and household-level energy technologies (like EVs and heat pumps) are revolutionizing how jurisdictions are planning to meet this energy demand.
The pace and scale of this change—to say nothing of the new technologies—necessitates novel approaches that will guide investment and ensure that as we grow our grid, clean electricity is affordable and reliable.
In this regard, the B.C. government has been taking some important steps forward.
Premier Eby has made energy a focus of his government. His energy minister has been making important changes that are aimed at maximizing the province’s production of clean energy, ensuring we are well-positioned to electrify B.C.’s economy and industry and meet our decarbonization targets.
The release this week of a new provincial energy strategy, titled Powering our Future, provides the most comprehensive vision we’ve seen so far from this government. The document consists of nine guiding principles with some supporting announcements that will help direct the shift to clean energy and the creation of new opportunities for people and communities throughout B.C. Notable in the strategy is a focus on improving energy efficiency, the need for more clean power, integrated planning between electrical and gas utilities and opportunities for increasing household energy resources.
But while the vision is promising, the government must now lay out its plan for making it a reality.
Existing energy policy, governance structures, regulatory oversight and system planning processes were not designed to navigate the scale, speed and complexity of this transition, especially while balancing other government objectives such as reconciliation, economic development and affordability.
While the province has committed to bring together stakeholders and Indigenous peoples to identify priorities, actions and the timelines needed to achieve its objectives, what’s still missing is a commitment to a comprehensive energy plan with a focus on articulating the reforms necessary by 2030.
Such plans already exist in places around the world looking to modernize their approach to energy policy. Jurisdictions are grappling with how to reform their energy systems in response to growing demands for electricity, the need to transition away from fossil fuels, increasing geopolitical and supply chain pressures and commitments to combat climate change.
Our competitors with energy plans are attracting new investment and helping households access cheaper technologies. B.C. has a time-limited opportunity to maintain its enviable position. This week’s announcement was an important step forward, but taking the next one is what really counts.
Mark Zacharias is the executive director and Evan Pivnick is the clean energy program manager at Clean Energy Canada, a think tank at Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.
