According to work done by Mr. Dunsky's firm, the Canadian economy is at risk of missing out on $110 billion to $220 billion in potential capital investment because of an insufficient supply of clean electricity for the current pipeline of projects.
Our interviews over the past year have similarly found tightening supply across the country and lengthening queues. As demand grows and continues to outpace supply, these opportunity costs only climb. Industrial investors will deploy capital here only if they get timely access to power at competitive rates. This applies to both new sectors, such as battery production, critical minerals and data centres, and existing industries looking to electrify and spend billions in expansion.
For my second point, falling costs of solar and wind and batteries mean that flexible clean grids can deliver abundant power at lower cost, and that's a big change. We've seen wind, solar and battery costs fall dramatically over the past decade. Since 2009, solar costs have fallen by 84% and onshore wind by 56%, while battery costs declined 27% in the last year alone.
It's not just these technology shifts in terms of cost. Electricity systems also have room to modernize and help keep rates competitive as they grow by operating more flexibly. Flexible systems, on both the demand and the supply side, can help build out a cost-effective system. With expanded storage, demand flexibility, interties and smarter grid operations, Canada can use its infrastructure more productively, avoiding both the cost of overbuilding for peak and the waste of low-cost renewable power.
Reimagining electricity systems is a major economic opportunity, yet current electricity planning processes and institutions are rooted in a world that no longer exists, with obsolete assumptions about technology costs, assumptions about fixed demand and limited focus on flexibility.
Third, Canadian electricity systems aren't keeping up with international competitors in creating the conditions to seize the economic opportunity. Our forthcoming analysis compares four Canadian provinces—Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and B.C.—against six global leaders on what it takes to attract both clean power supply and the industrial investment that demands it.
Provinces have different advantages and challenges in this race when it comes to electricity system growth and attracting investment, and all have some actions to take to help build the systems of tomorrow. These involve building a modern grid that can meet growing demand, delivering flexibility and linking regional power markets. It involves strengthening electricity markets through predictable procurement and modernized industrial rates. It involves establishing policy certainty to support investment.
Jurisdictions doing this, such as Texas, showcase the opportunity to get this right. Investment in Texas for solar, wind and storage reached over $27 billion U.S. in 2025 alone. That's from building, sending clear price signals, making fast connections and building transmission early to help that.
Fourth, the federal government has a critical role to play in working with provinces to deliver national benefits. Our research points to four areas for federal action.
The federal government should support new co-operative processes for interprovincial energy planning, focused on information sharing and goal setting in the short term and new intergovernmental institutions in the longer term.
The federal government should selectively deploy the national balance sheet to support anticipatory grid build-out for nationwide benefit. Specific solutions include both scaling up existing successful financing solutions, such as those of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, and direct federal funding. A national test could support more consistent, prioritized application of federal support, recognizing the range of national economic and security benefits.
To build long-term policy certainty for clean electricity investors, the federal government should move forward with flexible clean electricity regulations that anchor expectations that new supply will be predominantly clean.
Finally, the federal government should prioritize clean flexibility within existing electricity, infrastructure and innovation programs, and it should consider how tax tools such as capital cost allowances can mobilize investment in on-site solutions to enable users to shift their demand away from peak periods and offer industry greater agency over its costs.
Thank you.