ThinkEnergy

Hydro Ottawa
ThinkEnergy

Every two weeks we’ll speak with game-changing experts to bring you the latest on the fast-changing energy landscape, innovative technologies, eco-conscious efforts, and more. Join Hydro Ottawa’s Trevor Freeman as he demystifies and dives deep into some of the most prominent topics in the energy industry. Have feedback? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to thinkenergy@hydroottawa.com

  1. MAY 12

    thinkenergy shorts: the energy story hits close to home

    Canada’s energy conversation grows louder every day. But before we can address the national goals or even energy independence, we need to look at our local utilities and energy systems to understand their capabilities. Host Trevor Freeman walks through how the energy conversation needs to start locally, how to future-proof energy systems, and what the hardworking crews do to build and maintain these systems. Listen to episode 156 of thinkenergy.   Related links   Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-8b612114 Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en     To subscribe using Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405   To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl   To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited   Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa   Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa   Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod   Transcript: Transcript: Trevor Freeman  00:07 Welcome to a thinkenergy short hosted by me, Trevor Freeman. This is a bite sized episode designed to be a quick summary of a specific topic or idea related to the world of energy. This is meant to round out our collective understanding of the energy sector, and will compliment our normal guest interview episodes. Thanks for joining and happy listening.  Hi everyone. Welcome back to another thinkenergy short. I'm your host, Trevor Freeman. I'm recording this the day after our federal election here in Canada, and energy, as it so often does, did come up on the campaign trail. There was talk about the transfer of energy from province to province, including a west, east pipeline and a national interconnected electricity grid, which we've talked about a little bit here on the show before, improving the way that we move electricity from province to province, not just sort of north to south, between us and the United States, there was also talk about specific strategies on how to address climate targets, albeit not very much talk about that. Nor was there a lot of talk about how to foster the energy transition, although it did pop up from time to time, especially if you're an energy nerd like me and went looking for it. The point is whether it was front and center in election ads or not. There are some big decisions to be made regarding energy in the coming years, and those big decisions will undoubtedly lead, one way or another, to some big energy projects. But that is not what we're going to talk about today. We're actually going to zoom in a little bit and talk about the work that goes on a little bit closer to home that is critical to making the entire system work for the end user. You the customer, me the customer, including those big energy projects, and that is the work that is done to build and maintain our local distribution grid.  So the poles and the wires and the transformers that you see outside your home or outside your business that's actually bringing the power the final step, so that you can use it before we can talk about national energy independence, or these large goals that we have as a country. When it comes to energy, we need to make sure that the poles and wires and transformers in every city, every town and every neighborhood are ready, and that we're building the necessary infrastructure to meet that growing demand, and that is where your local utility comes in. We don't just maintain the system that we have, we prepare it for the future and make sure that we're laying the foundation that we need for tomorrow. Here in Ottawa, it is finally, finally spring, or at least it feels like it's finally spring outside, and that means that construction and outdoor work is starting to ramp up. So today I'd like to shed a little bit of light into what our crews do and your local utilities crews likely do to maintain and to build our system. When it comes to keeping our grid operating in tip top shape, nothing beats planned maintenance. This is the cornerstone of any electric utility strategy to deliver safe and reliable power, and this includes proactive measures like replacing aging equipment, trimming trees near power lines and performing essential upgrades. Such activities are vital in reducing the frequency and duration of unexpected outages and helping maintain that resilient power system that we all rely on. So let's go step by step. Utility poles, they are assessed regularly and replaced as needed. Utilities critical hydro pull program tests 1000s of pools annually to identify the ones that require maintenance and new pull installations also support great expansion to meet a city or a community's growing need new residential developments or new commercial developments. For example, next would be something like vegetation management. So this is another critical aspect. Regular tree trimming and removal near power lines can help prevent outages and safety hazards, especially during storms and high winds. Utilities like Hydro Ottawa, who I work for, employ satellite imaging technology to scan the grid, you know, at least twice a year, to identify high risk areas and potentially dead or dying trees, to allow for proactive maintenance, and that's in addition to the sort of visual inspection that happens as our crews are moving about our system, so all these different techniques that we use. It's like high tech arboriculture with Mission grid resilience. We are aiming to reduce the amount of tree contact with our system. If we go below our streets, we will see chambers connecting vast duct structures to our substations. So where you don't see overhead lines, that means those lines are buried running through duct work maintenance, hole upgrades and cable replacements are also part of a comprehensive maintenance strategy. These efforts are critical to keep our underground infrastructure safe and ensure that the structural integrity of our entire power system is able to accommodate our city's current and growing a. Electricity demands, we also have equipment like Transformers and switches and circuit breakers that are located both outside, overhead, underground, in substations and transformers, and they undergo routine inspections and replacements to prevent potential service disruptions. But it's not just maintaining what we've got, we also need to continue expanding to meet growing need we talk a lot on this show, as all you listeners know about the fact that our demand for electricity is growing, and it's growing at a pace that we really haven't seen before. So we need to make sure that we are building out our grid to be able to meet that demand. In order to do this Hydro Ottawa, for example, is embarking on one of the largest Grid Investment Programs in our entire history, and it's something that a lot of utilities in Ontario and across the country are looking at as they do their long term planning and forecasting. So as an example of just what the pace of change is here in Ottawa, traditionally, we would build a new substation every kind of five to seven years. And this is a major project. A substation is a big project. And so one every five to seven years has been the pace in our next five year period. So kind of between now and 2030 we are planning to energize a new substation every single year for the next five years, substations play a pivotal role in the power grid stepping down high voltage electricity that we get from transmission lines to lower voltages that are suitable for distribution to homes and businesses to our customers. So as an example, again, here in Ottawa, we have a substation that became fully operational in 2022 in Ottawa's southwest end, and that substation alone can power 32,000 homes annually. So substations are one of the major pieces of work that we are doing to build out our grid and provide for the growing electricity demands. And along with those substations come new distribution lines and more poles and wires and transformers and all of the associated equipment. Now, a lot of this work might sound routine, but it's not. It's strategic and forward looking and absolutely essential if we want to build a clean, flexible, reliable energy future here in Canada. So when utilities replace an old pull today, it's not just maintaining the status quo. It's laying the foundation for a National Clean grid tomorrow, it's supporting some of those large projects that we talked about at the very beginning of this episode. When utilities install a new conduit for easier cable upgrades, that conduit could be helping future generations of Canadians stay connected to renewable power. When utilities trim one branch at a time, they're protecting the integrity of an entire community's power system. Now behind these initiatives are a number of dedicated, capable, really smart folks that are working on these projects. Obviously, we've got our outdoor crew so power line technicians, our overhead and underground crews, our stations technicians, our forestry crews. These are the folks that are really out on the front line, that are maintaining and building our grid. You'll often see them out there by our trucks, or in orange, if you see them, keep your distance because they're working, but give them a thumbs up, or say hi. Wave at them and tell them they're doing a great job, because they always are. But then we also have some, let's call them back of house folks that are working on various aspects of our grids, and that's everything from our powerhouse technicians that are operating and monitoring the generators that are in our generating stations, and for Hydro Ottawa, that includes our Shoji air generating station in downtown Ottawa on the Ottawa River. We've got smart grid eng

    11 min
  2. APR 28

    Empowering power: how AI impacts energy systems

    Greg Lindsay is an urban tech expert and a Senior Fellow at MIT. He’s also a two-time Jeopardy champion and the only human to go undefeated against IBM’s Watson. Greg joins thinkenergy to talk about how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how we manage, consume, and produce energy—from personal devices to provincial grids. He also explores its rapid growth and the rising energy demand from AI itself. Listen in to learn how AI impacts our energy systems and what it means individually and industry-wide. Related links ●     Greg Lindsay website: https://greglindsay.org/ ●     Greg Lindsay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-lindsay-8b16952/ ●     International Energy Agency (IEA): https://www.iea.org/ ●     Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-cem-leed-ap-8b612114/ ●     Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en  To subscribe using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405   To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl   To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa  Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod

    54 min
  3. MAR 24

    Reimagining heating and cooling with district energy systems

    Scott Demark, President and CEO of Zibi Community Utility, joins thinkenergy to discuss how our relationship with energy is changing. With two decades of expertise in clean energy and sustainable development, Scott suggests reimagining traditional energy applications for heating and cooling. He shares how strategic energy distribution can transform urban environments, specifically how district energy systems optimize energy flow between buildings for a greener future. Listen in.   Related links   Scott Demark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-demark-83640473/ Zibi Community Utility: https://zibi.ca/ Markham District Energy Inc: https://www.markhamdistrictenergy.com/ One Planet Living: https://www.bioregional.com/one-planet-living Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-cem-leed-ap-8b612114/ Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en   To subscribe using Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405   To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited   Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa   Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa Transcript: Trevor Freeman  00:07 Welcome to thinkenergy, a podcast that dives into the fast, changing world of energy through conversations with industry leaders, innovators and people on the front lines of the energy transition. Join me, Trevor Freeman, as I explore the traditional, unconventional and up and coming facets of the energy industry. If you have any thoughts, feedback or ideas for topics we should cover, please reach out to us at thinkenergy@hydroottawa.com   Speaker 1  00:29 Hi everyone. Welcome back. One of the overarching aspects of the energy transition that we have talked about several times on this show is the need to change our relationship with energy, to rethink the standard way of doing things when it comes to heating and cooling and transportation, etc. This change is being driven by our need to decarbonize and by the ongoing evolution and improvement of technology. More things are becoming available to us as technology improves on the decarbonization front, we know that electrification, which is switching from fossil fuel combustions to electricity for things like space and water heating vehicles, etc, is one of the most effective strategies. But in order to switch out all the end uses to an electric option, so swapping out furnaces and boilers for heat pumps or electric boilers, switching all gas cars to EVs, etc. In order to do that in a way that is affordable and efficient and can be supported by our electricity grid, we need to think about multi strategy approaches, so we can't just continue to have this one way power grid where every home, every business, every warehouse or office tower satisfies all of its energy needs all the time directly from the grid with no adaptability. That isn't the best approach. It's not going to be affordable or efficient. We're not going to be able to do it fast enough. The multi strategy approach takes into account things like distributed energy resources, so solar and storage, etc, which we've talked about many times on this show, but it also includes approaches like district energy. So, district energy is rethinking how energy flows between adjacent buildings, looking for opportunities to capture excess energy or heat from one source and use that to support another. And that is the focus of today's conversation. To help us dive into this topic, I'm really happy to welcome Scott Demark to the show. Scott has been a champion of sustainability, clean energy solutions and energy efficiency in the Ottawa real estate and development industry for over 20 years now, he has overseen many high-performance development projects and was one of the driving forces behind the Zibi development in downtown Ottawa, and most applicable for today's conversation the renewable district energy system that provides heating and cooling to the Zibi site. Scott is the president and CEO of the Zibi community utility, as well as a partner at Thea partners. Scott Demark, welcome to the show.   Scott Demark  03:15 Thanks. Nice to see you. Trevor,   Trevor Freeman  03:17 So, Scott, why don't we start with definitions are always a good place to start. So, when we talk about a district energy system, give us a high-level overview of what exactly that means.   Scott Demark  03:27 Sure, a district energy system is, is simply the connection, or interconnection of thermal energy sources, thermal energy sinks. And so really, in practical terms. It means, instead of buildings having their own furnace and cooling system, buildings connect to a hydronic loop. A hydronic loop is just pipes filled with water, and then the heat or the cooling is made somewhere else, and that heat or lack of heat cooling is in a pipe. They push the pipe to the building, and then the pipe extracts the heat or rejects the heat to that loop. And so it's simply an interconnection of us as sources and sinks for federal energy.   Trevor Freeman  04:14 And I guess one of the important concepts here is that buildings often create heat, not just through a furnace or not just through the things that are meant to create heat, but, you know, server racks, computer server racks, generate a lot of heat, and that heat has to go somewhere. So oftentimes we're cooling buildings to remove heat that's being created in those buildings, and then other buildings nearby need to be heated in order to make that space comfortable. Is that fair to say?   Scott Demark  04:42 Yeah, absolutely. Trevor, so, an office building in the city of Ottawa, big old government office building, you'll see a pretty big plume on the roof in the winter time. That's not just kind of the flue gas from a boiler, but rather it is actually chillers are. running inside to make cooling, and they're just selling that heat to the atmosphere, even on the coldest day of the year. So, it's people, you know, people are thermal load. Computers are thermal load, and so is solar gain. You know, January is pretty dark period for us, meaning low angle sun. But by this time in a year, you know, or at the end of February, there's a lot of heat in that sun. So, a glass building absorbs a lot of sun. An office building will need cooling on the sunny side of that building a lot of the time, even in the dead of winter.   Trevor Freeman  05:31 Yeah. So, a district system, then, is taking advantage of the fact that heat exists, and we don't necessarily need to either burn fossil fuels or even if it's a, you know, a clean system, we don't have to expend energy to create heat, or create as much heat if we could move that heat around from where it's kind of naturally occurring to where we need it.   Scott Demark  05:54 That's right at the very core of a district energy system. You're going to move heat from a place that it's not wanted to a place that it is wanted. And so in our example of the office building, you know, on the February day with the sun shining in and the computers all running, that building's getting rid of heat. But right next door, say there's a 20-story condo. Well, that 20 story condo needs heating and it also needs domestic hot water. So, year-round, domestic hot water represents 30, 35% of the heating load of any residential building, so at all times. So, a district energy system allows you to take that heat away from the office building and give it to the residential building, instead of making the heat and dissipating that heat to the atmosphere in the office building. So, yeah, it's, it's really a way to move, you know, from sources to sinks. That's, that's what a district energy system does well.   Trevor Freeman  06:48 So we've kind of touched on this a little bit, but let's dive right into, you know, we talk a lot on the show about the energy transition. This, this push to, one, move away from fossil fuel combustion to meet our energy needs. And two, shifting from a kind of static, centralized energy system like we have right now, big generators, large transmission lines, etc., to more of a two-way flow, distributed energy system. What is the role of district energy systems within that transition. How do they help us get closer to that sort of reality that we talk about?   Scott Demark  07:27 I think the biggest way that they help is economies of scale. Okay, so by that, I'll explain that. Imagine there's a lot of technology that's been around a long time that is very scalable to the building level, but most of them are fossil fire. Okay, so the cheapest way to heat a building in Ottawa is to put a gas fired boiler in. That's the cheapest capital cost, first cost, and it's also the cheapest operating cost, is to put a gas boiler in. That industry is well established. There's lots of trades who could do it. There's lots of producers who make the boilers. When you start to try and think about the energy transition and think about what you may do to be different, to be lower carbon, or to be zero carbon, those industries are just starting right. Those industries don't exist. They don't have the same depth, and so they don't have the same cost structure, and often times they don't scale well down to the building. And therefore, a district energy system aggregates a bunch of load, and so you can provide a thermal energy so at scale that becomes affordable. And that is, you know, a very good example of that would be where, you know, you might want to go and recover heat from some process, and we'll talk about Zibi as the example. But if he

    53 min
  4. MAR 10

    thinkenergy shorts: the on and offs of trading electricity

    Will U.S. tariffs disrupt Canada’s energy sector? What is the current state of cross-border electricity trade? How can we strengthen interprovincial connections to secure a sustainable energy future in our country? Host Trevor Freeman summarizes the on and offs of Canada’s electricity trade. Tune in to learn about the complexities and challenges of evolving energy policies, infrastructure, and regulatory landscapes governed by both federal and provincial authorities. Related links   ●     Canadian Energy Regulator: https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/index.html ●     The Transition Accelerator: https://transitionaccelerator.ca/  ●     Electrifying Canada: https://electrifyingcanada.ca/ ●     Canada Electricity Advisory Council: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-sources/canada-electricity-advisory-council ●     thinkenergy episode 143 with Quest Canada: https://thinkenergypodcast.com/episodes/electrifying-canadas-remote-communities-with-quest-canada/ ●     Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-cem-leed-ap-8b612114/ Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en  To subscribe using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405   To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl   To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/   Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited   Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa   Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod Transcript: Trevor Freeman  00:07 Welcome to a think energy short hosted by me, Trevor Freeman, this is a bite sized episode designed to be a quick summary of a specific topic or idea related to the world of energy. This is meant to round out our collective understanding of the energy sector, and we'll compliment our normal guest interview episodes. Thanks for joining and happy listening.  Hi everyone. Welcome back to another thinkenergy short. I'm your host, Trevor Freeman, today we're going to take a look at Canada's electricity trade. You may recall that in my first episode of 2025 we did a look ahead at the year in energy, and we did briefly touch on potential upcoming tariffs, and I highlighted that there is a fair amount of trade and electricity across the border. So, given that we are still on the potential cusp of these tariffs being implemented, I'm recording this on march 3, and March 4 is the date that new tariffs are set to be implemented by the US on Canada, we thought it was probably a good idea to take a look at trade through the lens of electricity, to give you a sense of how this might impact electricity and what the future might hold. So we'll look at the current landscape, the challenges posed by some of these recent policies, and the potential for strengthening interprovincial connections to ensure a resilient and sustainable energy future.  So, let's start by establishing the current state of Canada's electricity trade. In short, Canada's electricity grids were designed to serve local demand, rather than looking at a large scale, integrated national grid, for all. We'll get more into this shortly, but it's the main reason why you'll see the majority of Canada's electricity grids at the provincial level are kind of oriented north to south when it comes to interconnections, rather than east to west. They are a stronger trade relationship to meet the higher demand of the United States, rather than between provinces and territories. Canada's electricity trade has long been a cornerstone of the North American energy framework that's governed by both federal and provincial authorities. These cross-border interconnections have facilitated a robust exchange with Canada, exporting around $3.2 billion worth of electricity to the United States in 2023 alone. And yes, that was billion with a B. So, let's talk about cross border trade. The Canadian energy regulator, or CER, oversees electricity exports to the United States, ensuring compliance with market regulations, fair access and impact assessment on our domestic supply. It should be noted that the CER does not regulate electricity imports into Canada. That is the role of provincial Crown corporations or private market participants who decide on the volume of electricity being traded here in Ontario, as we've talked about many times on the show, the IESO, or Independent Electricity System Operator decides on the amount of electricity that is needed in coming in terms of infrastructure, the CER regulates 86 different international power lines that connect Canada's provinces to the US electricity grid in different locations. So, to help you visualize this, you know, imagine a map of North America, starting west to east. We've got British Columbia, which is linked to the US Pacific Northwest grid. Manitoba and parts of Ontario are both connected to the US midcontinent grid. The other part of Ontario and Quebec are connected to the US Eastern grids. And finally, New Brunswick is connected to the US New England grid. So, there are a lot of different connection points across the map. So that gives you a picture of our current trade relationship, so, now let's look at how some of the recent policy shifts may affect that.  Canadians will be well aware that the dynamics of international trade are being tested by the recent shift in the US approach to trade policies, and that includes the electricity trade. As I said at the beginning, I'm recording this on march 3, the day before broad, sweeping tariffs are set to be imposed by the United States on Canada, and that will impact electricity potentially, as well. The Trump administration's imposition of tariffs on Canadian imports has introduced a whole layer of uncertainty and tension. In response, Canadian officials have contemplated numerous different measures, including restricting electricity exports to the United States, states like Michigan and in New York or Minnesota who receive a lot of electricity from us. In Ontario, our recently reelected premier Doug Ford has highlighted the significance of these exports and has noted that Canada's electricity has powered 1.5 million American homes just last year, as recently as last month, Premier Ford raised the possibility of charging Americans more for electricity that Ontario sends to the US, and has also announced plans to cut off energy exports to the United States if the Trump administration moves ahead with tariff threats. These developments create a climate of uncertainty, and such trade disputes underscore the vulnerability inherent in our current trade dependent system. That vulnerability has raised calls for Canada to look and invest inward, which brings us to interprovincial connectivity. Let's examine the case for strengthening interprovincial connectivity in Canada, as I said at the top, we don't have a national grid. In fact, Canada's electricity infrastructure, which we've talked about many times, consists of multiple provincial or territorial grids, each governed and regulated by its respective province or territory. They also vary in systems and resources for producing electricity, with some regions having ample access to water resources, hydroelectricity, for example, others relying heavily on nuclear energy, and still, others looking more to fossil fuels, like oil or gas for electricity generation, a more cohesive pan Canadian electricity grid has long been a topic of conversation, even before this current threat of tariffs from the United States. A few years ago, there was renewed interest in the idea of interprovincial connectivity to achieve a 100% net zero electricity system by 2035 and eliminate harmful emissions countrywide by 2050. Basically, utilizing the electricity grid to support decarbonization at the individual customer level. Of course, the federal government has recently relaxed its goal for a net zero electricity system by 2035 mostly due to feasibility concerns, but the goal is still there to achieve Net Zero electricity generation across the entire country, and work has already been done towards that. So, working closely with Natural Resources Canada, the transition accelerator, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the transition to low carbon economy and advancing Canada's 2050 climate target, created an initiative called Electrifying Canada, which was focused on widespread electrification throughout the economy. That initiative brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including government, indigenous peoples, industry, labor and civil society, to develop a roadmap for the electrification of Canada. This roadmap runs in parallel with the federal government's Electricity Advisory Council, and outlines recommendations to create a pan Canadian electricity grid, including identifying the infrastructure needed, the regulatory and policy changes that are required and the necessary investments needed to make it happen. Given the challenges presented by the United States and the growing discourse around bolstering interprovincial electricity connections, enhancing our domestic grid could offer several different benefits. These could include energy security. So, by reducing reliance on external markets, we can ensure a more stable and self-sufficient energy supply. There's also economic resilience, strengthened interprovincial trade can mitigate the economic impacts of international trade disputes and tariffs. And finally, there are environmental goals, so a cohesive national grid can facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources, aiding in the achievement of our net zero emissions targets. The CERs Canada's energy future 2023 report projects a 27% increase in interprovincial transmission c

    12 min
  5. FEB 24

    Capturing lightning in a bottle with Energy Storage Canada

    What does Canada do with excess energy? How is it stored today and how will it be stored as the energy industry evolves? Justin Rangooni, CEO of Energy Storage Canada, shares how energy storage supports a sustainable future for Canadians—from enhanced flexibility to affordability, large-scale grids to individual consumer needs. Listen to episode 152 of thinkenergy to learn about ongoing projects and challenges facing the energy storage sector in Canada. Related links: Justin Rangooni on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-rangooni-5063b542/  Energy Storage Canada: https://www.energystoragecanada.org/  TC Energy Pump Storage Project: https://www.tcenergy.com/operations/power/pumped-storage-project/  From Small to Mighty report: https://energyontario.ca/Files/OEA_ESC_From_Small_to_Mighty_Dec_2024.pdf  Ontario Energy Board: https://www.oeb.ca/  Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-cem-leed-ap-8b612114/ Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en  To subscribe using Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405 To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod

    43 min
  6. FEB 10

    thinkenergy shorts: shining the light on power outages

    How can you prepare for the inevitability of a power outage? What role does your utility provider play in restoring power? How are they being proactive about future outages? In this episode of thinkenergy, host Trevor Freeman shines the light on power outages and the strategies used by utilities to manage them. Learn about preventive measures, emergency responses, and the tools Hydro Ottawa uses to restore power quickly and enhance grid resilience. Listen in. Related links ●     Canadian Red Cross Emergency Preparedness Kit: https://www.redcross.ca/how-we-help/emergencies-and-disasters-in-canada/for-home-and-family/get-a-kit ●     Hydro Ottawa Outage Centre: https://hydroottawa.com/en/outages-safety/outage-centre ●     Hydro Ottawa Emergency Preparedness: https://hydroottawa.com/en/outages-safety/emergency-preparedness ●     Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-cem-leed-ap-8b612114/ ●     Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en    To subscribe using Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405 To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited  Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa  Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa  Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod   Transcript: Trevor Freeman  00:07 Welcome to a think energy short hosted by me, Trevor Freeman. This is a bite sized episode designed to be a quick summary of a specific topic or idea related to the world of energy. This is meant to round out our collective understanding of the energy sector, and will complement our normal guest interview episodes. Thanks for joining and happy listening.  Hey everyone, and welcome back, as you heard in the intro, this is a think energy short, so it'll just be me diving into a certain topic that helps round out our understanding of the energy world. Today, we're talking about something that we've all experienced or has affected us in one way or another. At some point power outages. So, a power outage is never fun. Nobody wants to go through that, but as we increasingly electrify our lives, they become more and more impactful when our mode of transportation and our method of heating and cooling our homes relies on electricity, we want that power back as soon as possible. Today, we're going to look at how utilities like Hydro Ottawa manage outages, from prevention to repairs so that we get power back on as soon as possible. Now here in Ottawa, we all know how unpredictable the weather can be. One minute it's a blizzard, the next it's sunny and 15 degrees outside, or vice versa. And over the past few years, we've seen it all from wild wind storms, everybody remembers the derecho, tornados, ice storms, floods, we've kind of run the gamut of weather, and that's going to continue as climate change changes our global weather patterns, we're going to see more and more extreme weather. So, this is a topic that's not going anywhere. It's also not just mother nature that's throwing us curveballs. Sometimes it's a squirrel or another animal that's, you know, causing mischief on our power lines, or a car that takes out a hydro pole, or just equipment reaching the end of its life. Whatever the cause, when the power goes out, all we want to know is one thing, when will it be back on? So today, we'll go behind the scenes a little bit and see how we tackle outages from start to finish. We'll look at the strategies that we use to prevent outages, the priorities that we follow during a storm, and the lessons learned to improve the grid for the future. So, let's dive in.  The first topic is prevention. Now we can't predict all outages. For example, if it's animal interference or a car accident, we can't predict that. But, for weather related outages, you might be surprised to know that Hydro, Ottawa has a team monitoring the weather, 24/7. They're kind of like our weather detectives, and they look at forecasts and try to predict potential impacts to the grid related to weather. Even when the skies are clear, however, our crews are working hard to prepare ourselves for things like inclement weather. They're out there, inspecting lines, trimming trees and upgrading equipment. Think of it as giving our entire electrical system a regular health checkup. Speaking of health checkups, trees are a major culprit when it comes to outages, especially here in the Ottawa Valley, where we have so many trees and a lot of forested and wooded areas, which is great, it's why we love this area, but that can interfere with our power lines. So Hydro Ottawa has a team of dedicated arborists who work year-round to keep branches trimmed and clear of power lines. But sometimes there is a storm on the horizon, and that's when things kick into high gear. Our crews are put on standby. We alert our customers through email and text and social media in order to be as prepared as possible and let us respond quickly when an outage does happen. So, during the storm, when the storm hits and the power goes out, what happens then? While restoring power isn't as simple as just flipping a switch. Hydro Ottawa follows a carefully structured plan to ensure safety and that we get the lights back on as quickly as possible. Let's take the example of a major storm that has caused widespread outages across our service territory. Our first job is to investigate the extent of the damage and understand what's actually happened. Where is there damage on our system? Now when it comes to restoration, safety is our number one priority, so we want to address any hazards like downed power lines immediately, as soon as we find out about them, and that's both for the safety of the public and the safety of our crews. Now our crews may be out there even while the storm is still going on, so safety is absolutely paramount, and we ensure that they work safely. The next focus of ours would be critical infrastructure. So, this is things like our own substations and main power lines, the real backbone of our system that provides power to the rest of the city, and then we look at the essential services. So, these would be things like hospitals, water treatment plants, things that our emergency responders need. We then move on to widespread outages. So, our goal is to bring customers back on as soon as possible. And we look for those areas where we can get the largest number of customers back on the quickest. After that, we would move to smaller neighborhoods and smaller clusters, those pockets of outages where there are less customers impacted. And finally, we move on to individual homes and businesses that might be out. Now it's important to note here that if those homes and businesses have sustained damage to their own electrical equipment, so something that is customer owned, that may need to be addressed before we're able to restore power, and the customer needs to work with a licensed electrician to make those repairs before we can turn the power back on. But the good news is is we will work with a customer and help them understand what's required on their side in order for us to restore power safely. Again, I can't stress this enough, we want to make sure we do everything as safe as possible for the customers and for our crews. Throughout this entire process, communication is absolutely critical. So, we want to be communicating with our customers about what's happening on the grid, hopefully giving some insight into when they might expect the power to be back on. To do this, we use outage maps on our website and on our app, text alerts, and social media in order to communicate. Now, it's important to know here that we provide initial restoration times, but those may change once our crew gets on the site and assesses the damage, or as a project progresses and we understand what's required to get that power back on. So, sometimes restoration times can change, and they are dependent on a number of different factors. Can be weather conditions, the location of the outage, how severe the damage is, and what other outages are happening on the grid. During an outage, it's important that you as the customer also stay safe. So, in the winter, stay in your home as long as it's safe and warm and you have food and water. The city during widespread outages, or if an emergency is declared, may open emergency warming centers or cooling centers during the summer months. And you can get more information on that by listening to local broadcasts, by looking at city resources and also checking out Hydro Ottawa resources. One thing I can say is that during a storm and while there's a power outage, our crews will be at work, 24/7, until power is restored to every customer. Okay. So, the storm is over and the power is restored, so the work stops there, right? Wrong. After every storm, we look for lessons learned to improve our response and improve the grid's resiliency. So, we look at outage data, response times, the repair efforts, to really refine our strategies and determine where improvements can be made. One question that we often get, especially after storms, is, why not just put all the power lines underground to prevent storm related outages? While that may sound like a great idea, the reality is that underground systems are significantly more expensive, sometimes up to 11 times the cost of overhead lines. So, undergrounding may work in some cases, it's definitely not a one size fits all fix. The last section to talk about is how to be prepared power outages, unfortunately, will happen. We can't be 100% sure that we can prevent them. So how can you make sure you're prepared? Well, the Canadian Red Cross recommends h

    10 min
  7. JAN 27

    Decarbonizing Canada’s buildings with the Building Decarbonization Alliance

    Canada's building sector accounts for 30-40% of the nation's energy use. Bryan Fannigan from the Building Decarbonization Alliance joins thinkenergy to share how the sector can align with Canada's emission reduction goals. From policies and grid impact studies to strategies helping steer towards a net-zero status by 2050. Listen in to learn about the practical challenges with decarbonizing existing infrastructures and innovative approaches to support the transition to more sustainable building practices. Related links Bryan Flannigan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanflannigan/ Building Decarbonization Alliance: https://buildingdecarbonization.ca/ The Transition Accelerator: https://transitionaccelerator.ca/ Concordia Plan/Net Zero: https://www.concordia.ca/sustainability/net-zero.html The Canada Green Building Strategy: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/transparency/reporting-and-accountability/plans-and-performance-reports/departmental-strategies/the-canada-green-buildings-strategy-transforming-canadas-buildings-sector-for-net-zer/26065 ITER fusion energy project: https://www.iter.org/ Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-cem-leed-ap-8b612114/ Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en To subscribe using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405 To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod Transcript Trevor Freeman  00:07 Hi. Welcome to think energy, a podcast that dives into the fast, changing world of energy through conversations with industry leaders, innovators and people on the front lines of the energy transition. Join me, Trevor Freeman as I explore the traditional, unconventional and even up and coming facets of the energy industry. If you've got thoughts, feedback or ideas for topics that we should cover, we'd love to hear from you. Please reach out to us at thinkenergy@hydrooottawa.com. Hi everyone. Welcome back. You really can't overstate the importance of buildings in our lives. We eat, sleep, work, learn and socialize in buildings, among many, many other things, a huge percentage of our lives takes place inside buildings. In fact, most of us probably have to make a conscious effort to actually spend time outside of buildings. I know that I try to make a point of spending time outside every day, and I have to be conscious about it, because it might not otherwise happen, and as a result of that, centrality in our lives, buildings are major users of energy. Some estimates say that around 30 to 40% of energy use in Canada is associated with buildings, and they're also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. So around maybe 18% or so in Canada, that means that the buildings themselves and the way we build them, the way we heat them, the way we use them, are an important part of our efforts to decarbonize and to further the ongoing energy transition. Supporting this effort is the main goal of the building decarbonization Alliance. Spun out of the transition accelerator, the building decarbonization Alliance is a nonpartisan coalition that works to inspire and inform industry and government leadership, accelerate market transformation and really get the building sector on track to meet Canada's emission reduction goals. They focus on convening conversations, conducting analysis and identifying some of the barriers to building decarbonization, and then working with partners to overcome them. And I think that's a really important part. Joining me today as my guest is Brian Flannagan, who's the executive director of the building decarbonization Alliance. Brian brings more than three decades of leadership and consulting experience all focused around reducing emissions and improving the energy efficiency of the built environment. Prior to joining the organization, he's played leadership roles across a number of different leading energy and environmental consulting firms. He spent time working with the Federation of Canadian municipalities and helped launch the Green Municipal Fund. Brian Flannagan, welcome to the show. Brian Flannagan  02:47 Thanks for having me. Trevor, this is great. Trevor Freeman  02:50 So why don't we start kind of right with the basics? Can you give us an overview of the building decarbonization Alliance and the work that you are doing alongside your members? Brian Flannagan  03:00 Yeah, thanks. Well, you know, as you said at the top of the hour, without kind of repeating the background or there, we're a nonpartisan, not for profit organization whose goal it is to really advance sort of market transformation, thinking about it from the perspective of, you know, creating a prosperous economy for Canada, having buildings that are a place where people want to invest, and the long-term goal is that we got to get them. Get to net zero. Global factors dictate that if we don't act on that, we're going to get left behind. And so, for those purposes, we want to bring the market along and align it toward this goal. And so, this alliance that we have is just that we have partner organizations who support this vision to have the building sector decarbonize between now and 2050 to meet those objectives that are set nationally and internationally, for that matter, and we work with those partners to sort of align the narratives around this and to put in place in the long term, the tools and policies that we need to support that. So, our main approach is really to convene those stakeholders around the issues that we see, to tackle some of the sticky narratives that are there. You know, any market transformation involves incumbents that have lots of good reason to maintain the status quo. So that's a feature of a system that we have to acknowledge, and it's something that we recognize we have to adjust those narratives to really advance, advance the common objective, right? And so, we work with that kind of vision, with our stakeholders, to really try to overcome, identify and overcome the barriers to getting to that goal. We kind of focus on a couple of key areas given, you know, the ability decarbonization space, the ecosystem is vast. Lots of market actors already out there, lots of other not for profits, lots of other organizations that are working really, really hard to advance this as well. And so, we tend to focus on kind of four main areas, making sure that there's policy support at various levels of government, and understanding which policies might be effective and which ones might be less so, and trying to advance the ones that. High leverage looking at the grid impacts of electrifying buildings, because it's undeniable that if you switch from fossil combustion of fossil fuels to electricity, you require a clean electricity system that has to have the capacity and be robust enough to support that. So, we want to be clear about that. We want to really address that in a cogent sort of way, and then really mobilizing and activating the sector to implement these changes and to find the solutions, because many of the solutions are at the intersection of different subsets of the of the sector, whether it's banking and finance or whether it's development community or the utilities, every market actor has a role to play to find solutions. Is very rarely one sub sector that can really act to, you know, to overcome a barrier. And so, we try to work at the intersection of these different groups. And by convening the players, we can roll up our sleeves and kind of get to that. And then, last but not least, you know, this is a very complex sort of question in terms of, how do we get there? What are the pathways? It kind of reminds me of nutrition, medicine, things like that, where, you know, at one instance, it's great to eat eggs, and another instance, terrible to eat eggs, and then it's good. To eat eggs. And then it's good to eat eggs again, because the evidence is shifting right, and we have to follow the evidence. We have to understand that the systems are complex and that various investments in the grid will alter the landscape. And so, we're working really hard to increase the analytical capacity of the sector, to model and to be able to understand how this will really play out when you have exponential sort of technological advancement coming to play. And you know, different investments and different dynamics that are bearing out as the sector decarbonizes, which is, it's really complex, and so we need better tools to be able to grapple with that. So those are the four sort of main areas, and it's a heavy lift. We arrive on the scene with great humility, recognizing that we stand on the shoulder of many, many other organizations who've come into the space trying to take a slightly different approach by bringing all the players together and trying to find some common understanding of how we how we get this done. You know, we have to do something different. We've been doing energy efficiency for four decades, give or take with the programming that we've had, and it's been very effective. I don't think there's any more old T 12 light bulbs anywhere that worked. That's great, but we need to do something different now to get fossil fuels out of the buildings for heating purposes, right? That's the goal. Trevor Freeman  07:18 I'm glad you brought up the complexity side of things. I think when we look at buildings and decarbonizing buildings at first blush, you can think, Okay, well, change out systems. And you know, there are carbon intensiv

    1h 4m
  8. JAN 13

    Looking ahead at 2025 clean energy trends

    The energy sector is always changing. Episode 149 of thinkenergy explores what to keep an eye on this year. Like political influence. How will the Trump administration's takeover reshape policies across the border? What are the potential impacts of federal and provincial elections here in Canada and Ontario? From energy strategies to affordability to decarbonization efforts. Listen in as host Trevor Freeman uncovers how politics influence the energy sector and what to expect from thinkenergy in 2025.   Related links   Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-cem-leed-ap-8b612114/ Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en     To subscribe using Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405   To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl   To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod   Transcript: Trevor Freeman  00:07 Welcome to thinkenergy, a podcast that dives into the fast, changing world of energy through conversations with industry leaders, innovators and people on the front lines of the energy transition. Join me, Trevor Freeman, as I explore the traditional, unconventional and up and coming facets of the energy industry. If you have any thoughts, feedback or ideas for topics we should cover, please reach out to us at thinkenergy@hydroottawa.com Hey everyone, and welcome back, and welcome to 2025. Happy New Year. I hope you all had a restful and relaxing break. I know I certainly enjoyed a little bit of time off with some friends and family, and it was nice to sort of recharge. But here we are at the start of a new year, at 2025 early January, the whole year is ahead of us, and there's lots of work to do, and being in the energy sector means there's lots of change ahead. On that note, today, we thought we'd dive into some of the areas that we think might shape or influence or be areas to watch for when it comes to energy in 2025. There's no such thing as a quiet or stand still year when it comes to the energy sector, 2025 will be no different. So, we thought we'd take a look at some of the things that we think might sort of hit the headlines or really drive change.  So, without further ado, let's dive into those areas. Area number one is politics. So, energy is political, and energy shapes politics, and politics shapes energy, and that's the same every year, but 2025 is shaping up to be a pretty significant year when it comes to political change that might impact energy policy. So, to start with, we are mere days away, a little over a week away as I record this from a new US administration. The Trump administration will take over on January 20, and like any change in administration and what is arguably the biggest economy in the world that will have an impact on climate change policy, energy policy, the flow of goods across borders. You know, there's talk of tariffs between Canada and the US. So just because it is in the United States, that doesn't mean it won't impact us here in Canada, so we'll be looking to see what change that does bring, what how that influences politics and energy policy and the flow of goods and all of those things that can impact what we do with energy. A little bit closer to home however, we also have some change potentially coming here in Ontario, at least, we are looking at potentially two elections this year. So, to start with, there's the federal election. It is very, very likely, almost a sure thing that we will see a federal election in the coming months. Justin Trudeau has recently announced his resignation, which will almost definitely trigger an election. So, we could be looking at a new government, or a new mandate for the existing government. So, what might that mean? Well, if the Liberal Party the current government, manages to get another mandate and remain in power, we kind of know what their priorities are. They've been going down a path for the last little while. They will probably continue to invest in clean energy infrastructure, they will continue to push for net zero goals and look for ways to support others to achieve net zero targets as well. If there's a change in governments, which the polling suggests is likely, and the Conservatives get into power, they are likely to look to prioritize affordability and resource sector competitiveness. They may also adjust timelines for emissions targets as a result of that. The one big thing that's worth mentioning, of course, is the price on carbon. This was brought in by the existing Liberal government, and they stand behind it. The Conservatives are very much campaigning on a platform of getting rid of the price on carbon, the Federal price on carbon that will have significant impact on energy policy and how things move. There are a few previous episodes that you can listen to that talk a little bit about that, and I'm sure we'll talk about it throughout the year as things play out. And finally, in this section, in Ontario, it's very likely that we might see a provincial election as well. All signs are kind of pointing towards a provincial election this year. So what could that mean? Well, similarly, our existing government has kind of made their energy policy known. We know what their focus is. So they are focused on expanding our traditional energy mix, so nuclear, some natural gas, as well as some investments in renewables in order to make sure that the grid can handle growth and electrification in that sort of rising demand that we're seeing. Should we see a change in government to one of the opposition parties? There may be more of a push for more renewable sources and lowering those carbon emissions faster than the current pace of change, at least based on what they are saying. So we'll keep an eye on that and how that comes into play. Obviously, energy is sort of primarily in the provincial jurisdiction here, so a change in government or a new mandate for the existing government would certainly have a big impact on energy policy. So area number one politics, area number two is energy affordability.  So Canadians have always cared about affordability when it comes to energy this has been sort of a driver in previous elections, but it is definitely top of mind now, as we are coming out of sort of a wave of inflation, supply chain issues, there's an affordability crisis, sort of across the economy in Canada, for many Canadians. So that definitely applies to energy as well. What does this mean? Well, it certainly will influence the way many people vote in the elections that I just mentioned. So look for Canadians to be wanting to know what those political parties stance is on energy and energy affordability. It may also impact the pace of adoption of decarbonization measures and electrification and some of those energy transition pieces that we're seeing. So if folks are struggling with the affordability of their bill. That means they are not likely to invest in large upfront capital cost items to change that. On the other hand, Canadians will be looking for ways to reduce their energy costs, and so maybe some of these items that might help reduce electricity costs will become more attractive to Canadians, they will also be looking for programs to help them with this, and the province just recently announced their new incentive structures, or the new iteration of save on energy incentive programs called the home renovation savings program here in Ontario, and Canadians will likely want to take advantage of that to help upgrade equipments, make their homes more efficient. There's a commercial stream for that as well, so businesses and institutions will also be looking to take advantage of that to address energy costs. So energy affordability will certainly be a driver, as it often is in 2025.  Area number three is decarbonization. So decarbonization is here to stay, and we expect that to ramp up this year, for sure, to continue being a point of importance for Canadians. So the climate crisis won't disappear from the news. As I record this, we're, you know, seeing these really terrible images and stories coming out of the Los Angeles area about wildfires, it seems like that's a perennial thing. We see that every year now, that will continue, and that really does drive people to think about their own decarbonization journeys. We are still in the early stages of adoption for some of this technology. You know, heat pumps, home generation and storage, real deep decarbonization measures were in those early stages. So I don't expect, you know, massive steps forward in the next 12 months, but I think more folks are going to start thinking about and planning for their actions on this, and that's at the both the residential and the commercial level. So here at Hydro Ottawa, we're seeing a lot of our commercial customers take advantage of our Enercan funded Ottawa Retrofit Accelerator program, which really supports that sort of carbon pathway planning, that plan to decarbonization. And I think a lot of folks will start thinking, you know, what's my next move when it comes to decarbonizing? You know, if my furnace is getting to be a little bit old, am I going to put that heat pump in? You know, even if I don't do it in the next 12 months, I want to start thinking about what that looks like. So we expect decarbonization to continue to be a point of focus. We expect it to be a point of topic, you know, in these elections that we talked about, because that climate crisis is in front of our faces, always in the news, and that won't be changing. Area number four is clean electricity, grid m

    20 min
3.9
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

Every two weeks we’ll speak with game-changing experts to bring you the latest on the fast-changing energy landscape, innovative technologies, eco-conscious efforts, and more. Join Hydro Ottawa’s Trevor Freeman as he demystifies and dives deep into some of the most prominent topics in the energy industry. Have feedback? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to thinkenergy@hydroottawa.com

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