Moderator:
Jane McDonaldBoard Member
Speakers:
Blake ShafferAssociate Professor, University of Calgary
Len KulaVice President of Policy—Eastern Canada and Utility Affairs, CanREA
Edgardo SepulvedaIndependent Economist, Telecoms and Electricity
- 2:00 - 3:00 pm ET
- Online
Markets vs. Public Power Systems: Meeting Canada’s Net-Zero Electricity Goals
Webinar Summary
Alberta’s electricity grid is a unique model in Canada. Their deregulated, market-based, and predominantly private system has been instrumental in rapidly deploying low-cost renewables. As Alberta aims for a net-zero electricity system by 2050—a goal requiring unprecedented private sector investment in new generation capacity—this conversation asked whether markets can deliver the affordable, reliable, and net-zero electricity we need.
What are the potential benefits and pitfalls of market-based approaches to building an electricity system? Hear from panelists Blake Shaffer (Associate Professor, University of Calgary), Len Kula (Vice President of Policy—Eastern Canada and Utility Affairs, CanREA), and Edgardo Sepulveda (Independent Economist, Telecoms and Electricity) as they discuss the lessons we’re learning from Alberta’s approach.
Edgardo Sepulveda, an independent economist in the telecommunications and electricity sector, worked on a report for the Alberta Federation of Labour and drew the conclusion that Alberta should reimpose economic regulations and return to a balance of ownership mix by creating a Crown corporation. He highlighted the volatility in energy prices, noting, “Alberta rates were doubling and tripling. They’re lower now, but we have three years of astronomical profits and price gouging. And why was price gouging allowed? Because that’s what it means to the market system, which does not control profits. It doesn’t control prices. It allows the market […] to set prices and profits. And so, who is left holding the bag other than consumers?”
Blake Shaffer, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary and the co-director of Canada’s Energy Modelling Hub, acknowledged the huge price event from 2021 to 2023 but emphasized that “70% of Albertan residential customers are on fixed energy rates and aren’t feeling that shock.[…] The role that contracts play in markets really mitigates some of the volatility.”
“Reliability and market purity are like a teeter-totter”, argued Len Kula, Vice President of Policy—Eastern Canada and Utility Affairs at CanREA, who defines himself as a market pragmatist. “The more that you emphasize reliability, the more that you are going to attenuate prices, which means that [infrastructure] doesn’t get built. What’s most important to you? Having a market drive investment, or a reliable system? Because in many ways they are incompatible.”
Moderator
Jane McDonald
Board Member
Jane McDonald is the Vice President of Climate and Nature Solutions. Previously, she led two of Canada’s major sustainable economy think tanks, Smart Prosperity and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). She is a member of Canada’s Generation Energy Council, which produced the first energy vision for Canada consistent with the country’s climate goals, and the Farmers for Climate Solutions Task Force. She is a Director of The Transition Accelerator, and a delegate to the Net-Zero Data Public Utility, the world’s first global repository for private sector climate transition-related data freely accessible to all.
Jane began her career in the private sector, launching new environmental markets at New York investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald where she brokered some of the first-ever carbon credit deals between large energy companies and international projects. She then directed a successful advocacy effort to have renewable electricity from major Canadian utilities included in President Obama’s Clean Power Plan.
From 2015-2106 she served as Policy Director in the office of Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, through the signing of the Paris Agreement, the adoption of a national climate strategy and the implementation of a national price on carbon pollution.
In 2020, she joined an independent group of Canadian finance, policy and sustainability leaders who formed the Task Force for a Resilient Recovery, publishing a roadmap for a long-term COVID recovery strategy to keep Canada competitive in the fast-growing global clean economy.
Outside of her work, Jane has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Finance at the University of Toronto, served on the board of many non-profits, is a 2007-2008 Action Canada Fellow and a 2024 winner of the Clean50 Award.
Speakers
Blake Shaffer
Associate Professor, University of Calgary
Blake Shaffer is an associate professor of economics at the University of Calgary and the co-director Canada’s Energy Modelling Hub. His research is at the intersection of climate policy and electricity markets. Prior to returning to academia, Shaffer had a 15-year career in energy trading, specializing in electricity, natural gas and emissions markets. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Calgary, Master in economics from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from Queen’s University. He has held visiting scholar and Fulbright postdoctoral scholar positions at the Toulouse School of Economics and Stanford University. Shaffer has also served as policy advisor for the governments of Alberta, British Columbia and Canada on energy and environmental policy matters.
Len Kula
Vice President of Policy—Eastern Canada and Utility Affairs, CanREA
The Canadian Renewable Energy Association is the voice for wind energy, solar energy and energy storage solutions that will power Canada’s energy future. We work to create the conditions for a modern energy system through stakeholder advocacy and public engagement. Our 300+ diverse members are uniquely positioned to deliver clean, low-cost, reliable, flexible and scalable solutions for Canada’s energy needs.
As CanREA’s Vice President of Policy—Eastern Canada and Utility Affairs, Leonard Kula leads the policy development and government relations team in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
Leonard retired from the Ontario IESO as Chief Operating Officer in 2022 following a 23-year career there. For more than a decade, Leonard was responsible for the reliable operation of the Ontario power system and execution of the wholesale energy market. He also led numerous market design teams including capacity auctions, day-ahead markets and nodal pricing. As such, Leonard has been active in balancing reliability and affordability through electricity markets in Ontario.
Edgardo Sepulveda
Independent Economist, Telecoms and Electricity
Edgardo Sepulveda is a regulatory economist with more than thirty years of experience in the telecommunications and electricity sectors. He has advised Governments, regulatory agencies, companies, unions and consumer advocates in more than forty countries (esepulveda.com).
He has written on electricity issues at the Progressive Economics Forum (progressive-economics.ca/author/edgardo-sepulveda/), for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (policyalternatives.ca/authors/edgardo-sepulveda) and in his Profiles in Decarbonization web-site (edecarb.org).
Born in Chile, Edgardo is fluent in English and Spanish and has a good working knowledge of French. He received his B.A. (Honours) from the University of British Columbia and his M.A. from Queen’s University, both in Economics. He established Sepulveda Consulting Inc. in 2006.
