by Raidin Blue, Senior Analyst – Pembina Institute

Government, utilities and industry coordination is key to enabling market readiness

This summer, the Government of Canada launched its National Strategy for an Electrified Canadian Economy, highlighting the need to double Canada’s electricity capacity and accelerate electrification over the next two decades. The Government of Alberta is also taking steps to grow the provincial electricity system.  

But one of the fastest and lowest-cost approaches to improving affordability, energy security, and economic resilience is being overlooked: improving energy productivity in buildings through retrofits.

Scaling retrofits depends on having the materials, components, and workforce in place to meet anticipated demand. Our recent report, Resilient but Not Ready, finds that Alberta’s retrofit supply chain is adaptable and positioned for growth. Yet without coordinated action on affordability, trade resilience, workforce development, and long-term market signals, the province risks missing a major economic opportunity. Strengthening Alberta’s retrofit supply chain today will also help prepare the province for a more electrified economy by helping to reduce building energy demand loads, easing pressure on the grid, and ensuring the workforce and supply chains needed to deliver building retrofits are in place.

Keep reading this blog on pembina.org

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