Admittedly, not all the trends identified in my most recent post in this series have positive implications for electricity; resource depletion, for instance, may entail costs and shortfalls for the sector’s water and material inputs, while climate change is not only a one-sided opportunity – it will also entail costly adaptation measures.

And it is also true that electricity is not a panacea and will not replace fossil fuel use. But to the extent that the global community succeeds in solving or at least effectively managing this range of energy challenges, electricity will almost certainly play an integral role.

Electricity is a vital part of expanding clean energy access, and of addressing growing demand. The prospect of carbon capture and storage, if it proves commercially viable, could enable the industry to dramatically reduce its own carbon emissions. Electricity is also a critical wedge for reducing carbon in the transportation sector, just as it has the potential to be an important hedge against oil price risks and instabilities. In short, electricity is emerging at the very centre of energy and environmental policy. While carbon-intensive fossil fuels have been at the heart of the energy economy since the Industrial Revolution, low carbon electricity is emerging as the potential new foundation for energy.

However, the electricity industry is only beginning to think through the full implications of this elevation in its scope and function. Where electricity has traditionally been thought of as a local or regional matter, there is more at stake now than sending electrons up the line at just and reasonable rates. These considerations still matter, of course, but executives are being asked by governments and stakeholders to do more and consider the matter of how to enlist their industry in the service of pressing global challenges. And they are being asked to move faster – to find ways to accelerate change in an industry known for long-lived investments, exacting science and engineering, and step-by-step methodical project planning and execution.

Electricity, in other words, is arguably undergoing a revolution of its own, one in which traditional concerns are seen as out of date. Five priorities must be addressed by governments and industry if this revolution is to be successful:

·        (Truly) Integrated Resource Planning

·        Low Carbon Electricity Sources

·        Carbon Pricing

·        Clean Energy Capital

·        Governance Improvements

 

 

 

 

Watch this space… We’ll take these priorities on, one by one, over the coming few days.

 

Part four is available now, to read further please click here.

 

 

Pierre Guimond

President and CEO

Canadian Electricity Association