Reality Check
Source: Siemens | · CLEAN ENERGY CANADA · | February 12, 2025
B.C. is ready for an electrified 2030, and it’s good news for household energy bills and grid security
Thanks to the province’s abundant hydro power, British Columbians’ electricity bills are among North America’s lowest and half of what an Alberta household pays for power.
Thoughtful planning decades ago set the stage for an affordable and reliable electricity system that has underpinned the province’s economy and helped keep electricity bills low for B.C. households.
The future is electric. Not only is electricity a much more efficient power source than fossil fuels, going electric saves households and businesses money. For example, a Metro Vancouver family that adopts clean energy solutions—including EVs and heat pumps—could knock more than $700 off its average monthly energy bill compared to one largely reliant on fossil fuels (and that includes the upfront costs of equipment).
Despite this, some groups have argued that B.C.’s electricity grid isn’t up to the task, using these concerns to call for the rollback of key climate policies—like regulations to increase EV supply— that would impact electricity demand.
But these concerns are often not grounded in fact. The reality is that B.C.’s grid is well positioned for the demands of electrification, thanks in large part to the build-out of renewables and more-often-than-not advantageous power trading with our neighbours. In this report, we explore some of the most common misconceptions about B.C.’s electricity supply. We also unpack how and why the energy transition can, in fact, keep our energy bills enviably low.
As one example, meeting B.C.’s robust 2030 EV sales targets (that would see EVs make up 90% of car sales in 2030) would only increase electricity demand in the province by 2%. Heat pumps, meanwhile, have a nominal impact on the grid. Given that 42% of B.C. households use electric baseboard heating, moving these dwellings to heat pumps could save households around $500 per year on operational costs along with reducing overall provincial electricity demand by 5%. A heat pump is also three to five times more energy efficient than a natural gas furnace, resulting in less electricity demand than some commenters have assumed.
Read the executive summary here.