Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members.
My name is Francis Bradley, and I am the president and CEO of the Canadian Electricity Association. CEA is the national voice of electricity. Our members operate in every province and territory in Canada, and include generation, transmission and distribution companies, as well as technology and service providers from across the country. Canada's electricity sector employs 81,000 Canadians and contributes $30 billion to Canada's GDP. Indirectly, our sector supports essentially every job and industry in Canada. Electricity is the foundation of the modern economy.
Electricity is also at the heart of Canada's transition to a low-carbon economy. Over 80% of Canada's electricity generation is already non-emitting, making it one of the cleanest grids in the world. In fact, the Canadian electricity sector has already reduced GHG emissions by 30% since 2005.
Electricity will play an essential role as Canada transitions to a low-carbon economy. The sector is uniquely positioned to help advance Canada's clean energy future and provide, as the throne speech aspires, clean affordable power in every Canadian community.
Sustainable, affordable Canadian power offers the opportunity to decarbonize and electrify other sectors such as transportation and industrial processes. To do so will require substantial investments in the sector to accommodate new demand and evolving technologies. We must do so while maintaining the reliability and the affordability in the system that Canadians have come to expect.
We're pleased that the government has supported this transformation in past budgets, with pilot programs for new technologies such as smart grids, deployment of EV charging infrastructure, electric vehicle purchase incentives and energy efficiency. Looking to the future, we’ve identified a number of ways that the federal government can support this process. I’ll highlight some of those recommendations from our submission.
First, the government, in conjunction with provinces and territories, should complete a national electrification strategy to ensure that government policy, utility investments and customer expectations are built on a robust and actionable plan.
The Conference Board of Canada estimates that there is a need to invest $1.7 trillion—that's trillion with a “t”—in the electricity sector by 2050 to reach climate goals. It’s important that we base this investment on a national plan.
Second, the government should target investments to meet the electricity needs of tomorrow. This includes encouraging the commercial deployment of energy storage. Batteries and other technologies will help revolutionize our grid, allowing power to be used well after it has been produced. Previous programs facilitated the early deployment of wind and other renewables, and they could serve as a good model for storage.
Third, we must enable innovation by modernizing our regulatory models. This includes updating the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act to permit new metering technologies to reduce barriers to the deployment of advanced technologies such as LED street lighting and electric vehicle charging infrastructures. Similarly, a regulatory innovation fund would allow provincial and territorial regulators to minimize price impacts on Canadians as new technologies are deployed.
Finally, we must continue to invest in cybersecurity. Canada has taken meaningful steps forward in the past few years to address cybersecurity issues. Unfortunately, we continue to face dedicated and innovative adversaries who seek to undermine our critical systems.
Information is the best defence. Canada should expand the Project Lighthouse pilot nationally. The program shares timely, actionable intelligence between government and electricity customers on a daily basis. It has already had an impact in Ontario and it offers opportunity for the rest of Canada.
To conclude, it's no secret that the electricity sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation. The pace and scale of the changes we have experienced are nothing like we've seen in generations. CEA and our members have an important role to play in enabling innovation, but we can't do it alone. There's an important role for other partners, including the federal government, to help drive this transformation.
Thank you, members and Mr. Chair. I look forward to your questions.