Modérateur: Philippe Dunsky
Personnes invitées: Julia McNally; Tim Eckel; Moe Kabbara
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Lectures
mardi Mars 11, 2025
- 12:00 - 1:00 pm ET
The Electricity Equation: Solving for Abundance and Affordability
With the industries, homes, and vehicles of the future all requiring a highly electrified energy system, « demand forecasts are growing extraordinarily… [but] there’s not enough power to go around,” says Philippe Dunsky, Founder & President at Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors, who moderated an expert panel on electricity abundance and affordability. While some claim this shift to an expanded electricity system will be universally beneficial, a strategic approach is needed to ensure all Canadians can benefit, according to new analysis from the Transition Accelerator’s Electrifying Canada initiative.
This transition raises important questions: How can we maintain support for grid investments while keeping affordability a top priority? What are the challenges and opportunities in scaling electricity infrastructure?
Strategic planning is essential to make sure we’re building effectively to capture economies of scale, explains Moe Kabbara, Executive Vice President at the Transition Accelerator. « We’re not really going to stumble on [the future we want] by accident… this is not a fait accompli. We really need to make sure we’re building smart and effectively in terms of how we’re deploying technologies. »
At the same time, Canada’s electricity delivery system is aging, making now the critical moment for upgrades. « There will never be a cheaper time to build than now… If you can construct something, now is the time,” emphasizes Tim Eckel, former Vice-President of Energy Transition and Asset Management at SaskPower. However, it is not just about expansion—effective buildout also requires smarter infrastructure. « We can’t just jump into automation, because it’ll be chaos. You have to understand how the system works before you can start to automate it… and once you get the foundations in place, the other benefits will come, » added Eckel
But it’s not all scaling infrastructure: customers are the first to flag that affordability and abundance need to be at the centre of an expanded electricity system.
« If you want to get emissions down, you’ve got to fuel switch. What we’re finding when we talk to our customers, especially residential, is they may care deeply about climate change, but people don’t really get that it’s natural gas and fossil fuel combustion that’s causing it. So, speaking to them about emissions is really not resonating. We’re talking about how great electric technology is, and about its potential savings, » explained Julia McNally, Director, Climate Action at Toronto Hydro.
Presented with
Personnes invitées
Philippe Dunsky
Founder & President, Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors
Philippe brings 30 years of business and policy experience focused on a singular passion: helping clients accelerate and navigate the clean energy transition, effectively, responsibly and at scale. He has the honour of leading a first-rate team of 60+ professionals, and the privilege of supporting clients among North America’s climate leaders.
As a trusted adviser to both executives and policymakers, Philippe helps organizations chart the course toward decarbonization without losing sight of economic imperatives. His experience spans the full array of solutions across both energy supply and demand (buildings, mobility and industry). His work is informed by three decades of experience assessing markets, designing policies and programs, conducting techno-economic studies, building regulatory frameworks and defining market strategies. He is regularly called as an expert witness at regulatory proceedings.
Philippe is notably adept at storytelling and is a recognized thought leader with a unique ability to bridge technology, market, regulatory and policy spheres. He is a sought-after speaker, an experienced board administrator and is regularly appointed to public interest advisory committees. Philippe recently served as Chair of the Canada Electricity Advisory Council. He is also Co-Chair of Efficiency Canada and a member of the Advisory Panel of Electrifying Canada, among other positions. Philippe was recognized in 2021 as one of Canada’s Clean50 leaders, and in 2022 as one of North America’s Top 100 Impact CEOs.
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Personnes invitées
Julia McNally
Director, Climate Action, Toronto Hydro
Julia McNally is the Director of Climate Action at Toronto Hydro. In this role, Julia leads a team focused on helping Toronto Hydro’s customers to decarbonize.
Julia practiced administrative law for 14 years prior to joining the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) in January 2006, where she held the role of Director of Market Transformation. With the merger of the OPA and the IESO in 2015, Julia became the Director of Strategic Engagement & Innovation in Corporate Relations, and then led the Internal Audit division where she provided regular assessments of controls through assurance, as well as consulting services to management and the Board of Directors. Julia’s last role at the IESO was Director of Planning Projects & Sustainability, in this role Julia lead the IESO’s Pathways to Decarbonization, looking at how to make Ontario’s electricity grid zero emissions.
Currently, Julia is on the Board of Toronto District 2030, is the co-director of the Energy and Infrastructure LLM program, is on the Steering Committee of the Building Decarbonization Alliance and a volunteer Board member of the Toronto Windsurfing Club.
Mx. McNally has an MSc from the School of Oriental and African Studies, an LLB from The University of Toronto and an LLM from Cambridge University.
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Tim Eckel
Energy Transition & Asset Management Consulting Engineer; former Senior Business Advisor and Vice-President of Energy Transition and Asset Management, SaskPower
Mr. Eckel is a consulting engineer focusing on the areas of utility energy transitions and asset management. He has spent more than 40 years in the electricity industry, most of which was with SaskPower, the provincial electric utility in Saskatchewan.
During his time at SaskPower he led the implementation of an asset management business model for the Generation, Transmission and Distribution divisions. He was also responsible for the Corporation’s sustainment and long-term planning, including the plans for net-zero, the generation supply plan and inter-regional transmission expansion. He led the Grid Modernization initiative which included the Advanced Meter Infrastructure, Advanced Distribution Management System and the Bulk Energy Storage programs.
He has been a member of several council/committees with a number of provincial, national and international organizations including Electricity Canada (EC), North American Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Technological Innovation (CEATI) and the Saskatchewan Electric Reliability Authority (SERA) and was the Saskatchewan representative on the Canadian Electricity Advisory Council. He presently is a member of the Electrifying Canada Advisory Panel.
Tim holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Regina. He is a professional engineer and member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan. Tim also has the Institute of Corporate Directors Designation.
Mr. Eckel and his wife Bernie have two adult children and call Regina, SK home.
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Moe Kabbara
Vice-président
Moe Kabbara est un professionnel expérimenté de l’énergie et du climat avec près de dix ans d’expérience professionnelle à l’intersection de la technologie, de la stratégie et des marchés. Moe apporte son expertise dans les domaines tels que l’électrification des transports, les énergies renouvelables, le stockage de l’énergie et l’efficacité énergétique. Il est également un interlocuteur recherché sur les questions de chaînes d’approvisionnement des véhicules zéro émission et il a dirigé la création d’Accelerate, l’alliance canadienne de chaîne d’approvisionnement des véhicules zéro émission. Cette alliance réunit des acteurs des secteurs privé et public pour tirer parti des opportunités que le Canada présente pour la fabrication mondiale de VZE.
Avant de rejoindre l’accélérateur, Moe était consultant en gestion chez Dunsky Energy + Climate. Il a également été agent principal de placements au ministère de l’Innovation, des Sciences et du Développement économique Canada. Moe a également été co-fondateur et PDG d’une start-up de stockage d’énergie thermique au Canada atlantique.
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