So much for renewable power. Or even coal-fired emissions reductions for that matter.According to government numbers, total electricity generation in Canada was down about 6.9% in April, continuing a trend that began earlier this year. Consequently provinces like Ontario and Quebec were forced to import higher emitting juice from the US.In concert with the reduced output, Canada imports were up 64.4% in the same period. The irony is that US power production is even more dependent on the fossil fuels Ottawa is aiming to phase out.Statistics Canada blamed the decline on droughts that reduced hydro-electric capacity — about two third of all electricity in Canada comes from dams — as well as maintenance at nuclear power stations in Ontario and New Brunswick..But Philip Cross with the McDonald-Laurier Institute also blamed “the shortcomings of an energy strategy that now emphasizes decarbonization over energy security, leaving customers vulnerable to supply shortfalls and higher prices.”In an op-ed, Cross said Canada’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions largely depends on hydro to supply most of the country’s rapidly growing power needs — especially with mandates for electric vehicles.“Electrifying our homes and vehicles while using energy-hungry technology implies a massive increase in our electricity consumption,” he wrote.While critics of wind and solar rightly emphasize the intermittent nature of those sources, Cross argues that the reduction in hydro capacity illustrates how it too, can be an unreliable power source..“Canada’s shift to being a net importer of electricity so far this year is a reminder that we have much work to do to increase production, especially since importing American electricity means relying on high-emission fossil fuels to generate power.”Philip Cross, McDonald Laurier-Institute.Unfortunately for the brain trust in Ottawa, the only other sources of reliable baseload power are coal or natural gas. And indeed, electricity emissions in jurisdictions like Alberta are down by more than half by converting the grid almost exclusively to gas after closing the last coal fired plant in June.However, Alberta’s “near-death” power grid experience last winter, he said, serves as an example of a jurisdiction that has had sober second thoughts.“Only recently have governments begun to realize projected electricity demands far exceed supplies. That is why Ontario and Quebec recently announced ambitious and expensive plans to boost generation,” he said. .Ontario is expanding and refurbishing its extensive network of nuclear plants. In Quebec, the Legault government recently installed Michael Sabia as head of Hydro Quebec to carry out a plan to substantially increase hydro and wind power to meet future demand, discarding plans that emphasized energy conservation and inevitably would have required unpopular price hikes, he said.Alberta’s near-death experience has led it to restructure its grid to reduce the priority given to unpredictable renewable sources.“Canada’s shift to being a net importer of electricity so far this year is a reminder that we have much work to do to increase production, especially since importing American electricity means relying on high-emission fossil fuels to generate power.”Cross noted that the European Union’s single-minded focus on decarbonizing its energy supply ended even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the cost to households, industry and governments mounted. Even Richard Norris of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute characterizes this country’s own refusal to acknowledge the primordial importance of abundant and cheap energy as ‘energy blindness’. “That blindness needs to end,” he said.
