CHARBONNEAU – Nation building with a TransCanada electrical grid

MORE THAN EVER, Canada needs a national electrical grid.

President Trump has done Canada a favour. Not only has he managed to galvanize Canadians to vote Liberal but he has brought Quebec closer to to the federalist fold.

And Trump has prompted a national fervour not seen since the World War 2.

“They say you shouldn’t waste a good crisis,” says University of Calgary Professor Shaffer. “While the U. S. appears dead-set on moving fast and breaking things, Canada has the opportunity – indeed, the need – to move fast and build things.

“And if Canada’s leaders are looking for nation-building projects that improve affordability, enhance energy security, accelerate decarbonization, bolster our economic independence from the U. S. and position us for success in a rapidly transforming energy world, expanding interprovincial transmission lines should be at the top of the list.”

The scale of such a project would be historic – comparable to the building of the TransCanada railway.

It was an American threat in the 1800s that prompted Prime Minister John A. Macdonald to build the TransCanada railway.

The railway served two purposes –to discourage American annexation of the West and to bring B.C. into Confederation.

Canada needs a similar project now to counter Western alienation. The collapse of the Conservative lead after the last election left the prairies seething with anger. They want grievances addressed.

In an act of unity, each province could bring strengths to a TransCanada grid. Ontario and Alberta have large wind and solar sources of power. Quebec and B.C. have hydroelectricity.

These sources complement each other. Hydroelectricity is a “natural battery” that can be switched on when needed. Wind and solar provide cheap, green sources of energy when the wind blows and the sun shines,

However, without a TransCanada grid, Alberta and Nova Scotia are isolated from energy transfers. As it now exists, they can only import 10 per cent or less of their peak electricity load requirements.

New Brunswick, by contrast, can import 82 per cent of its peak summer load requirements according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC). NERC examines the ability to transfer electricity between provinces under summer and winter conditions.

Surprisingly, even Quebec, with the largest hydroelectric sources in Canada, is venerable.  Quebec faces by far the largest energy deficits of any province during extreme cold winter events in the years ahead, largely owing to growing demand.

Only British Columbia and Manitoba exhibited no resource deficiencies, whatever the weather, according to NERC.

In a country as big as Canada, quite often it’s cold in the East when it’s warm in the West. A TransCanada grid would distribute power where needed.

We have relied on power transfers to America for too long. Canadians can no longer depend on a stable American government.

We have a new prime minister and all provinces agree on the need for a TransCanada grid. It was one of the key recommendations of the Canada Electricity Advisory Council last year.

The time is ripe for building our nation through power sharing.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.