What you need to know about B.C.'s EV rebates after the end of the consumer carbon tax
On Tuesday, B.C. moved to end its consumer carbon tax after 15 years and announced it would review its Clean B.C. rebate programs — including those incentivizing the purchase of electric vehicles — as it looks to fill a $1.8 billion financial hole. Trevor Melanson from think-tank Clean Energy Canada says that the program may not disappear immediately, and the government should think about lowering the income cap associated with the rebate.
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Toronto Star
4 days ago
- Toronto Star
EVs aren't being forced on Canadians — if anything, they're being withheld from them
By Rachel Doran and Joanna Kyriazias Contributors Rachel Doran is the executive director and Joanna Kyriazis is the director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada, a think tank at Simon Fraser University's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. You may have heard this one before: governments are 'forcing' people to buy electric vehicles. It's how U.S. President Donald Trump described the efforts of his predecessor and some in Canada have similarly accused the feds and certain provinces of pushing their green agenda on uninterested drivers. For the record, drivers are not uninterested. A new survey from Abacus Data commissioned by Clean Energy Canada finds that 45 per cent of Canadians are inclined to get an EV as their next vehicle and that share is considerably higher in urban areas (55 per cent in the GTHA and a whopping 69 per cent in Metro Vancouver) and among younger Canadians (57 per cent of those under 30).
National Observer
5 days ago
- National Observer
Canada's clean energy investment slows but momentum could surge with new power deals
Canada's steady, growing investment in clean power over the past decade slowed in 2024 with a drop-off in renewable energy plant construction, according to the latest International Energy Agency (IEA) figures. But in the face of heightened geopolitical uncertainty — and with most of the country's provinces planning to award deals this year to build more power plants and infrastructure — the Canadian green transition could quickly pick up pace again, a leading think-tank says. Capital spending on power generation in Canada between 2021-25 averaged US$7.3 billion a year — $5.3 billion of which went into renewables projects, the IEA stated in its 10th World Energy Investment report. The remaining $2 billion was split between new fossil fuel and nuclear developments. Clean energy spending numbers in the country are up compared to 2016-2021, when renewables saw $3.3 billion in capital expenditure, while fossil and nuclear saw $1 billion and $1.2 billion invested, respectively. The Canadian data also reflects the accelerating global shift away from oil, gas and coal, which is expected to see $1.1 trillion invested in 2025, while renewables, nuclear, grids, storage, e-fuels, and electrification are on course to reach a record $2.2 trillion spend. 'Today's investment trends clearly show a new Age of Electricity is drawing nearer,' said Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, as the report was released online lastThursday. "A decade ago, global investments in fossil fuels were 30 per cent higher than those in electricity generation, grids and storage. This year, electricity investments are set to be some 50 per cent higher than the total amount being spent bringing oil, natural gas and coal to market.' Birol noted spending on low-carbon power generation has almost doubled over the past five years, with solar power investment alone forecast to hit $450 billion in 2025, making it the 'single largest item in the global energy investment inventory.' Battery storage investments are also climbing rapidly, he said, with the IEA expecting spending to surge past $65 billion this year. A Canadian green 'gold rush' ahead? Evan Pivnick, Clean Energy Canada's clean energy program manager, said the drop in construction of solar and wind farms in Canada over the past year is disappointing. However, the 'bigger theme' in the IEA data is the growth of renewables share in the country's energy mix, which rose from 27.6 per cent in 2016-2020 to 36.6 per cent in 2021-2025, he added. Given that almost every province and territory is planning to hold a new power procurement round this year — where governments allocate future production capacity on the grid — conditions could exist for a renewables 'gold rush,' Pivnick said. 'The focus should be on interprovincial powe grids and interties - between Ontario and Quebec and Quebec and Atlantic Canada and between Alberta and BC,' says Clean Energy Canada's Evan Pivnick. 'Renewables are the cheapest form of new energy and prices continue to fall. We have historically been an oil-producing nation, but we have unbelievable renewable energy resources in wind and solar, all backed up by a world-class hydropower network,' he said. Canada has some singular challenges, including a vast geography with 13 different energy grids, Pivnick noted. 'But I think we are entering a new chapter in our energy transition.' Pivnik said the IEA data also reveals striking similarities between the energy transition in Canada and much of the rest of the world. One is underinvestment in transmission, which will hinder bringing new power online and getting it to industrial, commercial and residential consumers. Another is that energy security is becoming a major motivation in all national energy policy thinking. The IEA's Birol referred to it as the 'new main driver' of investment in power generation. 'Building renewable energy projects is the best way to make Canada's energy more secure and protect the country's electricity prices from fluctuations in global markets and political dynamics," said Pivnik. Canada's national renewables build-out has become sluggish in the last few years, primarily because Alberta — the country's erstwhile clean-energy powerhouse with over 10,000 MW of installed wind and solar — in 2022 imposed a moratorium on renewables projects. Nationwide solar and wind build down Nationwide, a mere 314 MW of solar power was switched on last year, down from 765 MW the year before, taking total plant capacity to 4,000 MW, according to figures from the C anadian Renewable Energy Association, an industry body. Wind power fared little better, with the installation of 1,434 MW of turbines in 2024, down from 1,774 MW the year before, expanding the fleet to a total 18,434 MW. The average yearly investment in Canada's electricity network fell slightly in 2021-2025 compared to the previous five years, the IEA found, to $4.1 billion from $4.2 billion. The same was seen globally as capital spending on grids, currently at around $400 billion a year, is not keeping pace with spending on generation and electrification, the agency said. Pivnick believes new transmission infrastructure should be top of the list for the new Liberal government's so-called 'nation-building' projects plan. 'The focus should be on interprovincial grids and interties - between Ontario and Quebec and Quebec and Atlantic Canada and between Alberta and BC,' Pivnick said. Power connections like these are the most cost-effective way to enhance Canada's ability to build more clean energy capacity in the provinces and distribute the country's energy resources to the regions that need them most, he added. Globally, China, far and away, led the energy investment tables with a forecast $874 billion to be spent this year, of which $627 billion will go into renewables projects — as much as the EU and US combined. The Asian superpower's share of worldwide renewables spending has risen from a quarter to almost a third over the past 10 years, based on a portfolio of technologies including solar, wind, hydropower, nuclear, batteries and EVs. Declining spending on new oil Capital spending on oil production is foreseen falling six per cent globally, while the nuclear sector's investment renaissance is expected to result in expenditure growing 50 per cent in 2025 to $75 billion. The rampant rise in worldwide electricity demand has also continued to fuel investment in coal, led by China, with the construction of nearly 100,000 MW of new lignite-fired power plants given the green-light. The IEA report noted that energy sector spending patterns were 'very uneven globally' with many developing economies struggling to get capital for energy infrastructure. Africa, though it is home to 20 per cent of the world's population accounts for just two per cent of global clean energy investment. Birol said: 'Investment flows are not yet on track to deliver on the renewable and efficiency goals agreed at COP28' in Dubai, UAE, which finished with a declaration stating the conference marked the 'beginning of the end' of the fossil fuel era. 'The annual investment required in renewable power still needs to double to achieve a tripling of installed renewable capacity by 2030, accompanied by rising spending on grids, storage and other forms of flexibility to ensure secure and cost-effective utilization of this capacity.'
Vancouver Sun
04-06-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Capacity crunch? B.C. Hydro seeks proposals for more backup power for provincial grid
With no new big dams of its own to build, B.C. Hydro on Wednesday threw open a window for private developers to propose new sources of 'baseload' power to backup the growing list of renewable electricity proposals it's enlisting to expand the province's grid. 'Baseload' refers to sources of power utilities can turn on or off as needed, such as B.C. Hydro's existing dams. With this, Hydro is considering possibilities for geothermal, pump-storage hydro or even grid-scale batteries as a means to meet peak demand when intermittent wind and solar sources are less reliable. B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix didn't put a number on the amount of electricity Hydro might be looking for in a request for expressions of interest, just that 'we want to see what's out there and get those proposals in place.' Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Westcoast Homes will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Dix, however, characterized the step as 'a moment when we have to build again to diversify, to build the economy and to create wealth,' not dissimilar to the period of B.C.'s dam-building boom in the 1960s and 1970s. 'This call for power, though, is about the growth of our economy, about the opportunities in mining, about the requests for power that are at an extremely high level,' Dix said. 'We've got to build out clean electricity, which is one of our significant economic advantages in B.C.' Critics of the government's energy policy, however, look at the announcement as evidence that the ambitions in government's Clean B.C. plan to electrify the economy are putting a strain on the province's electricity grid. 'This is an acknowledgment that B.C. Hydro is facing a capacity crunch,' said Barry Penner, executive director of the Energy Futures Institute and former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister. Penner's Energy Futures Institute is one of the groups that has questioned whether Hydro is keeping up with demand, particularly since B.C. Hydro is in the third year of drought conditions that have pushed it to being a net importer of electricity. B.C. Hydro's Site C dam, which is expected to be fully in commission by the end of this year, will add eight per cent to B.C.'s electricity supply. Dix added that the 10 independent power projects approved last fall will add another eight per cent, but won't start coming online until 2028. On Wednesday, Penner acknowledged that it makes sense for Hydro to explore the capacity of future options, such as geothermal, but it shouldn't discount the potential of the existing natural-gas-fired power generation that it has on hand now, but is planning on decommissioning as part of its Clean B.C. plan. Penner added that he was attending the Go Clean Energy Conference in Bend, Ore., as he spoke to Postmedia News, where representatives from California talked about that state's plans to pause its plans to get rid of natural-gas-fired plants in light of long-term drought. 'There is some policy cognitive dissonance, shutting down existing capacity when they say we need more,' Penner said. Conservative Opposition critic Larry Neufeld said 'we need to be far less scared of natural gas.' 'We have nothing against green energy whatsoever, the geothermal, the biogas he's talking about,' said Neufeld, who is also the Tory MLA for Peach River North. 'Our concern would be, though, that investing too much in one area leaves us open to not fulfilling the baseload (requirements) as fully as it should be.' However, Mark Zacharias, a special adviser to the think-tank Clean Energy Canada, said 'there are many sources, all of them are … feasible and should be cost-competitive over time.' Considering regulatory timelines, Zacharias said grid-scale batteries would be the quickest to roll out and 'costs at grid scale are just plummeting.' On geothermal, Zacharias said B.C. has a 'medium' potential for the method, which taps heat from underground to power steam turbines, and 'has been successfully used around the planet.' Wednesday's announcement also included a request for expressions of interest for ideas for energy efficiency, which would reduce electricity use. This component does include a target to reduce some 2,000 gigawatt-hours worth of electricity use, the equivalent of powering 200,000 homes, to free up power for potential new industrial users. Hydro CEO Chris O'Riley said the utility wants to talk with potential partners about new technologies that could expand its 'leading energy-efficiency programs.' 'We are looking beyond the near term and opening up exploration of the next chapter of B.C.'s energy future,' O'Riley said. depenner@
