With everything from transportation to hydrogen and steel production to heating requiring it, the demand for electricity will rapidly reach the point where peak demand cannot be cost-effectively met by adding generating capacity alone, which has been the traditional solution. From an economic perspective, the investment needed to build such capacity would be staggering and wasteful. The power, utilities, and renewables (PU&R) sector has no choice but to adopt distributed generation, storage, and a self-managing power grid.

The energy transition will be unlike anything the industry has seen before. It will require innovative thinking about how to structure the PU&R sector. Business models will have to change.

The power industry can’t implement the energy transition on its own. The whole ecosystem—all levels of government, the energy and resources industry, investors, and customers—need to collaborate to prevent the system from collapsing as it transitions. Through the help of regulators, the sector can become more adaptable and efficient to help encourage the provision of the trillions of dollars of investment that is going to be needed globally to deliver the transition¹ .

At the same time, we need to build stronger, more transparent, and more authentic relationships with Indigenous communities. Through collaboration, we can explore and innovate solutions that balance all stakeholders’ needs.

Leaders in the PU&R ecosystem have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a real and lasting positive impact. Their burden is heavy: to plan and make the right decisions in the face of great uncertainty. However, they should take advantage of all the data and tools available to them, such as digital modelling and simulation. They are now able to test, learn, and innovate in a low-risk environment to investigate uncertainties and how to respond to them. By thoroughly understanding these issues, they can make bold moves at lower stakes.

To help organizations see a way forward through this tumultuous time, our annual Bright ideas article series explores the most critical issues facing the PU&R sector and shares what we learn every day while working with our clients across Canada. We may have 27 years left to get things right, but with infrastructure taking decades to build, the clock isn’t on our side.

The choice is clear: Work together and approach the energy transition with a coherent, systems-based view, or work on various solutions in silos and hope it all somehow comes together in time.

We choose the former. Follow Bright Ideas for inspiration if you do, too.