Ryan Rigby - CBAP, PMP, Agile Product Owner

Did you know that Ontario's new 2025 demand forecast (2025-2050) was recently released by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO)? HIGHLIGHTS: ->Electricity demand is growing by approximately 75%. ->This is 15% higher than the previous forecast (March 2024). ->Demand to grow to 27GW by early 2030's. Up from 23GW today. ->Expectation is that Ontario will no longer be just summer peaking. -> Summer and winter demand are estimated to be roughly the same by 2030. KEY DRIVER'S TO INCREASED DEMAND: -> New industrial loads coming online -> Electrification & Industrial Decarbonization -> New, highly intensive data centers Innovative solutions from the public and private sectors using policy and commercial means to support this significant growth will be needed. Some essential items to keep an eye on: -> Market Renewal Program (MRP) is set to launch on May 1st, 2025. Large users and transmission connected loads should be prepared -> More local DR programs being developed by LDC's that can offer new revenue models for organizations with flexible energy assets. -> Class-A consumers should start preparing for more potential winter peaks. -> Distributed Energy Resources (#DERs) and Virtual Power Plants (#VPPs) are key components in meeting demand growth. -> Gas-fired electricity production can expand, and depending on the scale, this could increase Ontario's grid emission factor. -> #Nuclear power is a key component, and investments are already underway. -> New loads requesting to connect to Ontario's grid may need help with LDC's being able to facilitate capacity. Rodan Energy Solutions Inc. is at the forefront of the #energytransition, and we continue to support LDCs, power producers, industrials, and commercial and institutional consumers to stay ahead of the curve! #ontarioelectricity #sustainability

33

3 Comments

Clean Energy Consulting can support you with engineering and project services on your submission to BC Hydro.

21

NOT QUITE, BUT ALMOST OVERNIGHT, CANADA BECAME A REAL GLOBAL ENERGY CONTENDER... The history books will tell us many years from now that 2023-2025 were important years in Canada's international expansion aspirations, as expanded pipelines and new #LNG projects freed the country's hydrocarbon molecules from dependence primarily on the US market. But all this is occurring against a backdrop of price volatility and a complex range of external pressures. Indeed, these are the most complicated of times and that's why a granular grasp on critical sector and market nuances is important. That's exactly what KPMG Canada and geoLOGIC systems ltd. have done collaboratively in our 2023 Top Operators Report (as we have done for some time now.) Don't be fooled by the year: it is the basis for impactful analysis of key trends and patterns that take us well into the future. For example, we probe and explore: - What increased oil and gas export capacity means for Canada's top operators. - Top operators spending in 2023 in anticipation of improving market access. - Building positions in key plays is a strategic advantage.  - How operators are leveraging tools to protect netbacks. - Some top operators are placing early bets on energy transition technologies. This report should be required reading for anyone serious about wanting to know where the drill bit is going to be, metaphorically speaking, and how the Canadian sector will navigate global waters. You can download a complimentary copy at the link in the comments. For folks with global connections, send the report link their way. Michael McKerracher Ian Macdonald David Hood Paul Harris Darrell Stonehouse Bruce Hancock Terry Jbeili Robin Williams Blair Van Camp Monika Strzelecka Conor Chell Maya Douglas LLM Laura Roberts, P.Eng. Lauren Forrest Susannah L. Pierce Nicole H. Stewart Muir

43

2 Comments

Clarity & Focus for Alberta’s Electricity Market Redesign On July 3rd, the Alberta government issued a direction letter to Alberta’s ISO, the AESO, regarding the design of the restructured energy market (REM), transmission planning, and tariff design. The government’s direction is to: • Move forward with the introduction of a mandatory day-ahead market. • Allow the price of energy to be determined by the strategic offers of market participants, while using market mitigation to limit the potential for excessive exercise of market power. • Maintain a province-wide uniform price for electricity (i.e., no LMP) • explore Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED), shorter settlement intervals, review the price floor and ceiling as well as the co- optimization of energy and all ancillary services • move away from the current zero-congestion transmission planning standard to an optimally planned transmission planning standard; and • allocate new transmission infrastructure costs and all ancillary services costs based on cost causation principles The government’s direction letter provides clarity and focus to allow the AESO to begin the redesign process in collaboration with industry to restructure Alberta’s electricity market to enable the energy transition with reliability and affordability as primary objectives. Here is a link to the AESO’s REM page for all the details.

34

10 Comments

Our Chief Operating Officer Harneet Panesar and Director of Operations Decision Support Kevin Mancherjee were pleased to attend a federal investment announcement for the University of Toronto’s Grid Modernization Centre. We are proud to lend our expertise as a partner of the Grid Modernization Centre, which is led by Climate Positive Energy at the University of Toronto. The first of its kind in Canada, this test centre will provide critical data to decision-makers involved in the energy transition including the OEB, generators, utilities, municipalities, equipment manufacturers and smart metering entities. Collaboration is key to accelerating the integration of innovative energy solutions and evolving to a more decarbonized, decentralized, and digitalized grid. In her remarks, Leah Cowen, Vice-President of Research, Innovation and Strategic Initiatives for the university, highlighted the OEB’s collaboration with Climate Positive Energy on a research project to evaluate electricity cost structure, the outcomes of which will improve competitiveness. Factors such as electrification, economic growth and the energy transition necessitate increased grid capacity. At the OEB, we are committed to working with sector partners and educational institutions alike to ensure Ontarians have a power system that offers resiliency, efficiency and sustainability. To learn more about the OEB’s collaboration with Climate Positive Energy at the University of Toronto, please visit: https://lnkd.in/gq7MZBf5 #gridmodernization #electricity #sustainability #innovation

141

3 Comments

The AESO is now publishing data associated with the Market Power Mitigation Regulation. The AESO's market data page now includes the elegantly named "MCSINR and Secondary Offer Price Limit Report", which "looks 6 hours forward and backward, providing information to participants regarding calculations related to the reference unit as defined in the Market Power Mitigation Regulation. This includes the running total of the cumulative monthly settlement interval net revenue as well as what was calculated as 1/6th annualized unavoidable costs. This report also contains a column showing the secondary offer price limit, where a N/A means the secondary offer cap is not in effect and a null value means it has yet to be determined if the secondary offer cap will be in effect." Below is a link to the report page as well as a link to the Market Power Mitigation Regulation. http://ets.aeso.ca/ Market Power Mitigation Regulation: https://lnkd.in/g4UhwEjP

40

2 Comments

The energy transition requires utility companies to adapt with new technologies to create the next generation of Canadian electricity networks. ⚡ This includes distribution system operators (DSOs), which connect local distributors to open markets with easy grid access. Learn more. https://ow.ly/6PlF30sFGuA #EYCanada #BetterWorkingWorld

11

Alberta Grid Datapalooza Attention all data geeks! If you want all kinds of data on Alberta's power system, check out the AESO's Annual Market Statistics Report page. It uses Tableau to create user modifiable visualizations using actual historic system data that you can also download to use on your own. Below is a comparison between summer on-peak wind, solar, and simple cycle gas turbine generation by month from 2017 to 2024 that I created in about 3 minutes with just a few clicks. Check it out! AESO Tableau Data Page: https://lnkd.in/geHznxjd

57

1 Comment

The nuclear industry was my first home in mining, construction, and contracts management. As such, this episode of our podcast, is particularly powerful. Shout out to the relationships that got me started Fabien Jean, Greg Ritch.

7

💡 Ontario’s Demand Response 101💡 By shifting or reducing energy use during peak times, industrial facilities like yours can save on energy costs, support grid reliability, and even generate extra revenue. 🏢💡 ✅ Why Join? • Slash energy bills 📉 • Help prevent blackouts ⚡ • Boost operational efficiency ⚙️ • Contribute to sustainability 🌍 • Earn biannual payments 💵 It’s easy to enroll with Edgecom Energy, and there’s no upfront cost! Contact us today to see how DR can benefit your organization. Learn more in our blog: https://hubs.li/Q02LNPx60 #DemandResponse #EnergySavings #OntarioGrid #Sustainability #EnergyEfficiency

8

Curious how your business can cut energy costs and earn new revenue? In this video, I break down Alberta’s Operating Reserve Program and how it can work for you. It’s simple, with no upfront costs. Watch now, and feel free to DM me or comment below with any questions or thoughts. Let’s chat about how this can benefit your business!

21

1 Comment

As a competitive retailer in Alberta’s deregulated electricity market, we frequently hear concerns about the “failure of deregulation.” Recently, the Alberta Federation of Labour proposed re-regulating the market. We see things differently. Deregulation is the true "Alberta Advantage", and here’s why. The UTILITYnet group of companies has provided fixed prices below the RRO for over 80 consecutive months. Together, our brands have donated over $500,000 to local charities and invested significantly in economic development across the province. Since 2019, our Solar Club™ program has also given back over $20 million in value to micro-generators. These are just a few examples of the lasting benefits Alberta’s market brings to our communities. Read our newest blog for more: https://ow.ly/YkvO50TYtOn

56

7 Comments

As the Liberal carbon tax drives up energy costs, our government under @fordnation is fighting back to keep costs down. Today, @sflecce & @samoosterhoff unveiled a plan to reduce energy bills in #Cambridge. Ontario is launching the largest energy efficiency program in Canada’s history, putting over $12B back into the pockets of families. Building an #AffordableEnergy future for every family across Ontario. 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gp5tUfUA

The Ontario Energy Board is moving forward with capacity mapping to support more informed decisions for all parties involved in expanding Ontario's grid modernization initiatives. Providing context using maps to visualize and communicate gaps and potential opportunities. "The 2024 survey revealed that system capacity maps can also play a crucial role in facilitating the strategic deployment of DERs and supporting other load customer connections." https://lnkd.in/e-bqQpiA #OntarioEnergyBoard #locationintelligence #GIS #gridmodernization

28

1 Comment

Sixty-five percent of energy consumers know how to start making sustainable energy choices, but 70% say they will not spend more time or money doing so. Here are three ways to close the gap. https://ow.ly/fie230sEJpT #EYCanada #BetterWorkingWorld

2

Alberta's new electricity reforms claim to balance affordability, reliability, and sustainability but disproportionately penalize renewable energy projects while failing to address the critical need for energy storage. Developers are burdened with high costs, and intermittent power sources face new challenges in the competitive market. Are these changes securing Alberta's energy future—or setting it back?

6

2 Comments

Another Sign of Inertial Decline On May 8th, Alberta's ISO, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), issued an RFP for "Transferred Frequency Response". This is significant because it is yet another sign of the declining system inertia and corresponding frequency response degradation of the Alberta system due to the large number of inverter-based resources dominating the dispatched energy mix during many hours. The AESO must maintain a minimum level of frequency response as part of its NERC requirements and the requirements of its membership in the Western Frequency Response Sharing Group (WFRSG), which it can no longer do with the resources that are being dispatched in our energy-only market. The AESO states that "The Alberta Interconnected Electric System does not have sufficient frequency response by itself to meet the requirements of WFRSG membership or NERC. Balancing authorities in this situation are permitted to contract with other balancing authorities to transfer frequency response." Hence this RFP. This is another sign of much needed market and transmission policy reform in Alberta... AESO Transferred Frequency Response RFP: https://lnkd.in/gn-NUunE

90

17 Comments

Energy Storage Canada is pleased to see additional direction from the Hon. Nathan Neudorf to progress the transformation of Alberta’s electricity framework. Expanding the modern ancillary service suite, implementing a congestion management paradigm, negative pricing, and intertie restoration will drive the realization of a more affordable and reliable electricity market for Albertans, and provide opportunities for increased energy storage participation. #EnergyStorage resources are an essential piece of optimizing a contemporary affordable and reliable electricity system, and the ESC team looks forward to continuing to work with both the Government of Alberta and the AESO to implement the REM and changes to the Transmission Policy as soon as possible. Additional details available: https://lnkd.in/gKPivWaz #EnergyStorageSystems #FutureEnergy #EnergyTransition #Renewables #RenewableEnergy #CleanEnergyFuture #CleanEnergyTech #CleanTech #Energy #CanadianEnergy #StoragePLUS #StoragePlusSolar #StoragePlusWind #Batteries #EVs #BESS #LDES #LongDuration

11

A Tale of Two Systems The last few days on the Alberta power system provided a good demonstration of the different operating characteristics our system now displays when connected to the Western Interconnection versus being islanded. During late September though early October there was a planned maintenance outage on the Alberta-BC intertie (we were “islanded”), and we experienced very windy and sunny conditions for most of the outage. The large volumes of inverter-based resources online, combined with the loss of frequency support from the Western Interconnection due to the intertie outage, reduced system inertia and degraded frequency response and this resulted in the system experiencing 27 frequency excursions due to generator trips and sudden changes in wind generation levels.   Contrast this with the last few days. We've had low levels of wind generation, and the Alberta-BC intertie is in service, so we were connected to the Western Interconnection. We experienced several large generator trips, but because we had high inertia and strong frequency response, the system did not experience ANY frequency excursions. I’ve provided snapshots of the AESO’s event logs below from 2 days from each of these periods that tell the story. The top image is from Sept 27 – 28 during the Alberta-BC intertie outage and the bottom image is from Oct 28 – 29 with the intertie in service and low wind generation. Its like looking at two different systems… Data Source:  AESO market reports (AEIS Event Log under Historical Reports): http://ets.aeso.ca/

93

17 Comments