Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about the current and future state of national energy data in Canada.
My name is Patricia Lightburn. I am the manager of science and policy at the David Suzuki Foundation. I have a background in energy policy, including at one of Canada's largest pure play renewable energy companies, the provincial government of British Columbia, the International Energy Agency, and the former Ontario Power Authority.
Founded in 1990, the David Suzuki Foundation is a national, bilingual, non-profit organization headquartered in Vancouver, with offices in Toronto and Montreal. Through evidence-based research, education, and policy analysis, we work to conserve and protect the natural environment and help to create a sustainable Canada. One of DSF's greatest priorities is to advance climate solutions that accelerate the transition to a low-carbon Canada and help meet Canada's Paris Agreement commitments.
From the world's leading scientists to business leaders from the World Economic Forum, experts have identified climate change as the greatest economic and environmental threat facing us today. Energy knowledge and data are critical for Canada to succeed in the 21st century economy and to be a responsible global actor on climate change.
Canada has an opportunity to position itself at the forefront of clean energy innovation and to be a developer and exporter of climate solutions by leveraging our vast renewable resources to power our homes, transportation systems, and industry. Decarbonization of our electricity sector and economy is the clear path to meeting our Paris commitments, and yet without robust energy data, we are challenged to find consensus on a model to reach our 90% non-emitting electricity generation target, let alone 100%.
Data will allow us to model where renewables can be efficiently added to the grid, the role of demand side management and smart grids in optimizing our electricity system, and where additional storage or transmission solutions are required to allow the highest levels of renewables integration. This type of analysis will not only facilitate the transition to a clean energy future but also help to maintain the reliability and affordability of electricity in Canada.
Our cities, energy, and transportation systems are in need of modernization and expansion to meet the demands of growing populations and to replace aging infrastructure. Transmission and distribution networks, energy storage, and smart grids are essential components of our future energy system. As Canada embarks on one of the largest infrastructure investments in its history, energy data will be critical to guide spending and ensure that this historic investment is aligned with our climate commitments.
Energy data should underpin many of the policies that are critical to achieving our climate goals, such as carbon pricing, electricity regulations, and the clean fuel standard. Energy data allows for stronger policy development and analysis, and more robust monitoring for effectiveness. Electricity generation and operation data guides the electricity market reform policies that will allow the integration of significant levels of renewables.
Currently, energy data is scarce and rarely recent or available in real time. Data collected for energy modelling by universities, governments, energy regulators, industry associations, think tanks, and other non-governmental organizations is typically pulled together with difficulty from several sources and becomes unavailable following the study because it is not housed in a public repository. This has created duplication of effort and has made robust debate challenging because a common data source is not used. Many Canadian researchers have to source energy data for Canada from the U.S., our major energy trading partner, from such sources as the Energy Information Agency.
What follows are several recommendations on the future of national energy data in Canada.
First, Canada needs an independent source of publicly available, timely, granular, energy and electricity data overseen and supported by a team with deep expertise across different energy sectors. Energy data is complex. For it to be useful and for the cost and time investment to be worthwhile, it needs to be generated by experts who are familiar with the data required and how it will be used.
Second, the type of data that is required includes current and future demand and supply, size and location of generation projects by technology, transmission and distribution infrastructure and capacity, existing and forecast storage capacity, energy and electricity imports and exports, emissions profiles of energy production, hourly and daily generation profiles, and consumption and sales prices broken down by wholesale, commercial, industrial, and residential categories. This list is by no means exhaustive.
Third, the focus should initially be on a narrower set of data. It is more important to collect data that is relevant and trusted than to collect a large amount of data that will be underutilized. Once the value of the data has been tested and demonstrated, the scope should be expanded to meet diverse stakeholder needs.
Fourth, a new organization should be created to collect and manage this data. It should work closely with existing government organizations and ministries such as StatsCan and NRCan. It is critical, however, that this organization be independent from government for the data to be impartial, fully accessible, and timely.
Fifth, the Government of Canada needs to empower such an organization with sufficient authority to obtain the necessary data from a variety of sources. Much of the data in Canada is currently contained within provincial governments, regulators, agencies, and electricity utilities, and historically has not been easy to access.
Sixth, build on best practices. Experts from within Canada and other jurisdictions, for example, the International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Agency, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory should be retained in an advisory capacity during the development and operation of this organization to build on best practices and ensure harmonization across jurisdictions to the extent possible.
The cost for such an exercise may seem significant; however, in the context of the anticipated $48 trillion of global investment needed to meet the world's energy needs from now until 2035, such an investment is minor. Furthermore, the data generated by such an organization would be used widely, not just by energy modellers, but by industry, academics, NGOs, and governments in Canada and abroad.
Given the threat of climate change, DSF believes that Canada has an unparalleled opportunity to pursue decarbonization of our energy systems and economy, given our abundance of renewable energy resources, skilled workforce, and Canadian ingenuity and know-how. To seize this opportunity, a foundation must be built on quality data to advance Canadian energy knowledge and research modelling to show the path forward. Without this data, there is a risk that Canada will make uninformed investment decisions and fall behind in the energy economy that is rapidly evolving and in meeting our Paris climate commitments.
Thank you for your service to our country and for your time to discuss these critical decisions today.
I would be happy to answer any questions.