Misons sur l’avantage électrique du Canada

The Canadian Climate Institute proposes a two-pronged strategy to reach carbon neutrality in the electricity sector by 2035. First, it recommends enhancing carbon pricing by eliminating the Output-Based Pricing System (OBPS) for electricity and using financial instruments like the Canada Infrastructure Bank to reduce investment uncertainty. Second, it suggests a clean electricity standard that sets emission intensity ceilings for new plants and mandates full carbon neutrality for all plants by 2035, allowing for flexibility through carbon offsets to ensure grid reliability.

• The federal government can increase the effectiveness of carbon pricing in the electricity sector by ending the application of the Output-Based Pricing System (STFR), as the sector does not meet the criteria of being trade-exposed and emitting large quantities of greenhouse gases.
• To prevent consumer price spikes resulting from stricter carbon pricing, the government could adopt a model similar to California's, where carbon tax revenues are returned directly to consumers on their electricity bills.
• Investment uncertainty regarding future carbon prices leads to the construction of new natural gas plants that may become uncompetitive; this could be mitigated by using the Canada Infrastructure Bank (BIC) to guarantee carbon prices up to $170 per tonne by 2030.
• A clean electricity standard should complement carbon pricing by first setting an emission intensity ceiling for new installations to block new natural gas plants, and subsequently lowering that limit until all plants are carbon-neutral by 2035.
• Flexibility in compliance, such as allowing carbon offsets and negative emissions, is necessary within the clean electricity standard to avoid reliability issues or sudden price increases if renewable alternatives are not fully ready by 2035.

APA

Canadian Climate Institute (2022). Misons sur l’avantage électrique du Canada. https://institutclimatique.ca/misons-sur-lavantage-electrique-du-canada/

Chicago

Canadian Climate Institute. Misons sur l’avantage électrique du Canada. 2022. https://institutclimatique.ca/misons-sur-lavantage-electrique-du-canada/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Climate Institute |title=Misons sur l’avantage électrique du Canada |date=19 January 2022 |url=https://institutclimatique.ca/misons-sur-lavantage-electrique-du-canada/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianclimateinstitute2022misons, author = {{Canadian Climate Institute}}, title = {{Misons sur l’avantage électrique du Canada}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://institutclimatique.ca/misons-sur-lavantage-electrique-du-canada/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }