Pay people instead of power plants for clean electricity

Source: Brendan Haley, Evan Pivnick & Sachi Gibson | · CANADA’S NATIONAL OBSERVER· | January 2, 2025

Source: By unlocking the power potential of households and businesses, we can ensure a reliable and cost-effective electricity system that depends less on gas and more on renewable forms of energy. Photo by Kindel Media/Pexels

The recently-announced Clean Electricity Regulations will reduce pollution in our electricity grids even as the grids grow to meet soaring demand for clean electricity. However, the rules also allow for the continued use of natural gas plants in the name of supporting flexibility and reliability. In part, this is to ensure grid operators have resources that can be brought online quickly when electricity demand is high or renewable energy generation is low.

But gas is not the only flexible option. Every province has an alternative, largely-untapped resource found in customer households and businesses. 

By reducing or shifting their electricity usage when demand is high or energy supply is low, homes and businesses across the country can act like flexible power plants and support the stability of the electrical system. 

There are numerous examples of what this could look like. 

To shift their demand, customers can charge their hot water tanks and electric vehicles when the wind is blowing, so they are ready to reduce demand when the electricity system needs it. 

Commercial buildings can optimize lighting, cooling and ventilation through automation. 

Coupling insulation with high-efficiency heat pumps means less energy demand when it gets cold. And as more and more homes and businesses ditch fossil fuels for electricity, this customer-driven resource is only getting bigger.