Electrifying Canada Launches Advisory Panel to Drive Net-Zero Electricity Transition

Since its launch in 2022, the Transition Accelerator’s Electrifying Canada initiative has worked with a broad array of companies and individuals across the electricity value chain, creating connections and developing pathways to the future electricity system Canada needs to power its net-zero economy.  

The Canada Electricity Advisory Council (CEAC) recently issued its final report, addressing the dual challenge of decarbonizing Canada’s current grid while expanding it to meet growing demands for clean electricity. Taking that report’s recommendations as a starting point and adding insights from its own regional engagements and independent analysis, Electrifying Canada is now moving forward with a focus on practical, region-specific solutions. 

To help guide this critical work, we are pleased to announce the formation of our new Advisory Panel. This panel will be a source of strategic insight from nation-leading experts who know what it takes to get major projects done. Chaired by Bob Elton, former CEO of BC Hydro and current chair of RB Global, the Advisory Panel will help shape Electrifying Canada’s strategic initiatives by offering expert advice, ensuring effective and timely action as we help build the grid of the future. Announced today, the Advisory Panel consists of: 

  • Bob Elton (Chair), Chair, RB Global  
  • Claudine Bouchard, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating and Infrastructure Officer, Hydro‑Québec  
  • Francis Bradley, President and CEO, Electricity Canada  
  • Philippe Dunsky, Founder & President, Dunsky Energy + Climate  
  • Tim Eckel, Energy Transition & Asset Management Consultant
  • Wendy Franks, CEO, Canadian Power-to-X Partners  
  • Lesley Gallinger, President and CEO, IESO  
  • Bruce Lourie, President, Ivey Foundation  
  • Emily Whetung-MacInnes, Director, Indigenous Partnerships, Ontario Power Generation  

 

With the panel’s guidance and through its bottom-up, collaborative approach, Electrifying Canada will support the development and implementation of actionable plans with concrete next steps that can be adopted by regional market actors. This approach aims to drive real progress in Canada’s energy transition, tailored to the unique needs and opportunities of each region. 

We are grateful to the Advisory Panelists for lending their insights and experience to this important task. Along with the support of Electrifying Canada’s partner network, the panel’s guidance will drive pragmatic solutions to shape an energy system that serves as the foundation of Canada’s net-zero economy. 

Quotes

Canada has an opportunity to lead in the global shift to cleaner energy. Through Electrifying Canada, we aim to support the strategic investments and policy changes needed to ensure that our electricity system meets future demand while driving economic growth. I’m excited to chair this group of experienced leaders as we work together to support this critical mission.

Bob Elton, Chair, Electrifying Canada Advisory Panel

I’m excited to be supporting the Electrifying Canada initiative. By using the Canada Electricity Advisory Council’s unanimous recommendations to the federal government as a starting point, and then building on them to address what provinces and territories can do, Electrifying Canada can play a critical role in enabling the big moves that will be needed for our nation as a whole to succeed. I look forward to advising this timely, non-partisan effort to facilitate Canada’s emergence as a global energy transition leader.

Philippe Dunsky, Founder & President, Dunsky Energy + Climate 

Contact 

For media inquiries about Electrifying Canada and the Advisory Panel, please contact the Transition Accelerator communications team at communications@transitionaccelerator.ca.

To learn more about Electrifying Canada and to become a partner, visit electrifyingcanada.ca or contact the Transition Accelerator’s director of electrification, Nick Martin.

 

About Electrifying Canada 

Electrifying Canada is dedicated to accelerating the development of an affordable, reliable, and net-zero compatible electricity system. Managed and staffed by the Transition Accelerator, it is built on a partner network spanning the entire electricity ecosystem, guided by an advisory panel providing expert insight, and supported by Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors as its Knowledge Partner. Independent, non-partisan, and technology-agnostic, Electrifying Canada focuses on the regional scale, using in-depth engagement and leading-edge analysis to advance Canada towards its electrification goals.  

 

About the Transition Accelerator 

The Transition Accelerator exists to support Canada’s transition to a net-zero future whilesolving societal challenges. The Transition Accelerator works with innovative groups to create visions of what a socially and economically desirable net zero future will look like and build out transition pathways that will enable Canada to get there. The Accelerator’s role is that of an enabler, facilitator, and force multiplier that forms coalitions to take steps down these pathways and get change moving on the ground.

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