星空传媒

Skip to main content

Federal government releases new draft regulations on clean electricity

Share
OTTAWA -

Electricity infrastructure expenses are expected increase significantly over the next several decades as maintenance and increased demand is estimated to cost $400 billion by 2050.

The country's grid is already nearly 85 per cent clean, but demand is expected to double by 2050 as things like cars, buses and trains become electric.

"Why not make sure that this build-out is clean and affordable?" the minister posited.

The government expects the draft regulations would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 342 million tonnes between 2024 and 2050.

The ministry has been seeking feedback on the regulatory framework for nearly a year and will consult on the draft regulations for 75 days, with a final version expected to be published in January 2025.

They won't come into effect until 2035, but given the long lead time needed to build new electricity infrastructure Guilbeault said the government wants to give the industry plenty of notice.

"One thing we've heard from investors, from energy companies, is: 'Tell us what the rules are, and we will comply with them,"' the minister said of the consultations so far.

"They want to know what the rules of the game will be, and that's exactly what we're doing. We're giving them a lot of time to prepare."

Guilbeault said the draft regulations are designed to be affordable and achievable with existing technology that is already being used across the country.

They are also intended to show some flexibility, he said, particularly for remote communities that aren't part of the power grid and will be exempt from the new rules.

Federal and provincial governments are working together on plans and projects to reduce and eliminate the dependence on fossil fuels in remote communities, he said.

"We understand we're not there yet, which is why we've decided to ensure that the regulations wouldn't apply to them," the minister said.

He would not say if they have a timeline in mind to make clean electricity more accessible to all those communities that will be exempt.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2023.

IN DEPTH

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

CTVNews.ca 星空传媒

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

Stay Connected