New Rules for a New Grid

TECH

New Rules for a New Grid

What happened: Canada’s electrical grids are being reshaped to meet surging demand and new clean energy sources.

Ontario’s electricity system operators completed a long-awaited overhaul of its energy market, introducing “nodal pricing” for energy generators that varies based on where energy is needed most. I.e. if there’s grid congestion or lots of supply, prices will be lower. This incentivizes more energy storage or EV charging, and better site choices.

Combined with a financially-binding day-ahead market and improved real-time dispatch, these changes create clearer price signals, reduce waste, and better integrate intermittent renewables.

Grids across the country are making similar moves to transform their electricity systems:

• Quebec, Ontario and BC announced multi-billion dollar investments in energy efficiency programs for home retrofits, smart thermostats, heat pumps, and home solar and batteries

• Alberta is also working on market reforms like day-ahead pricing and shifting the cost of transmission infrastructure to generators

• BC also launched a second call for power to bring 5,000 GWh of energy online and new investments in clean energy and demand management tech

What’s driving the changes:

• Increasing energy demand from electrification, new industrial projects, data centres, and population growth (Ontario just upped its demand forecast to 75% growth by 2050)

• More variable energy supply from wind and solar

• Phase-outs of coal from the grid and decarbonization efforts

And it’s not just Canada. Grids around the world are being transformed to meet growing demand, integrate renewables, and become more resilient. Electricity demand is expected to grow 6x as fast as overall energy demand over the next 10 years.

Why it matters: Electrification is a critical component of reducing emissions; from green steel to electric vehicles, reliable access to low-carbon electricity is key.

Building out abundant clean energy - and the systems to deliver it reliably - also impact affordability, economic growth, and energy security. And inaction has real impacts, as Spain felt this past week with massive blackouts.

What this unlocks: These changes are creating a new landscape for energy tech and investment.

• Location-aware pricing: incentivizes investments in distributed energy resources, batteries, and virtual power plants (VPPs) where they’re needed most.

• Efficiency programs: grow the market for smart HVACs and thermostats, building energy analytics, and retrofit tech.

• Variable generation from wind and solar: expand the market for AI forecasting, flexible EV charging, and grid monitoring tech.

• Market transparency: attract capital more effectively to clean energy generation, storage and VPPs.

The bottom line: Electricity grids across Canada (and around the world) are going through a paradigm shift focused on data and monitoring, stronger price signals, and unblocking congestion without relying entirely on new infrastructure upgrades. These aren’t just technical upgrades; they reshape how and where energy projects get built, and what kinds of technologies gain traction.

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CLIMATE CAPITAL

💰 Power Sustainable closed a US $330M decarbonization fund backed by Canada Life, Export Development Canada, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and others. The PE firm will invest in established, middle-market companies working on resource efficiency in energy, industrials, transport and buildings.

IN THE FIELD

♻️ Li-Cycle could be insolvent and is looking for a buyer for all or part of its business. An offer from Glencore, one of Li-Cycle’s major investors, was rejected.

⚛️ Fusion energy startup General Fusion laid off 25% of staff as it looks to secure fresh capital, citing “unexpected” financing constraints. The company needs to raise $172M to meet its goals.

🚌 Electric bus maker Lion Electric failed to secure an investment from the Quebec government to rescue the company, and will likely be sold in the coming weeks.

📊 Arbor is collaborating with payments company JCB and Japanese fashion companies to test how consumers respond to visualizing CO2 emissions of products.

♻️ RecycLiCo ends plans for a battery recycling plant in Taiwan due to changing lithium prices and capital costs.

🛥️ ACEL Power partnered with electric boat dealer Electrified Marina to bring its electric outboard systems to market.

🪨 HydroGraph Clean Power closed a strategic supply partnership and is planning a production plant in Texas for its sustainable graphene.

🤖 Autoparts company Magna will deploy automated electric delivery vehicles in Toronto later this year.

💨 CarbinX is launching its carbon capture system for gas heating at UCalgary.

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ECOSYSTEM VIEW

10 Startups Redefining the Grid

🗺️ Othersphere - Site analysis to accelerate deployment

🧭 Clir - Renewable energy intelligence platform

🧠 ThinkLabs - Copilot for grid operations

📶 Corinex - Edge grid monitoring

🔌 BluWave-ai - Optimizing demand response with batteries, EV charging

🏭️ Edgecom Energy - Industrial energy management

🏡 dcbel - Smart home energy and V2G platform

⚙️ Elastic Energy - Intelligence layer for distributed energy systems

☀️ Solartility - Virtual power plant platform

🔋 Peak Power - Industrial battery energy storage

📡 SIGNALS & UNDERCURRENTS

🏛️ Alberta takes clean electricity to court: Danielle Smith wants the courts to rule on whether Canada’s Clean Electricity Regulations are constitutional. The province says the rules will increase costs and infringe on provincial authority. [G&M]

🏦 RBC ditches sustainable finance goal: The bank is dropping its target to mobilize $500M in sustainable finance and will hold off on providing climate-related disclosures. RBC cited Canada’s new greenwashing rules and the lack of established methodologies to rely on. [ESG Today]

🔌 BC pauses EV rebates: The program was funded by the province’s consumer carbon price which was just eliminated. EV sales are down ~50% across Canada since the feds paused national ZEV rebates earlier this year. [Electric Autonomy]

💨 Carbon removal investments slow: VC funding for direct air capture dropped 60% in Q1. Hype is dying down, but the sector is also shifting focus to deploying and building out infrastructure. [Bloomberg]

🏭️ CCUS quietly moves ahead: Carbon capture developers are steadily moving projects forward rather than announcing new plans. The sector also saw a number of FOAK projects in new sectors last year. [IEA]

📈 VCMI greenlights carbon credits for Scope 3 emissions: Using carbon credits for Scope 3 emissions is contentious, and the integrity-focused group requires companies to measure and disclose the gap between Scope 3 emissions and targets, steps taken, and barriers they face to cut emissions. [Energy Connects]

⚙️ Clean manufacturing readjusts to Trump: Investments in US cleantech manufacturing are up but battery projects are struggling. $6.9B worth of projects have been cancelled. [Latitude]

COMMUNITY

🚀 Industrial Transformation Challenge: Emissions Reduction Alberta is seeking projects to reduce industrial emissions while improving operational efficiencies. Apply by June 12th.

➡️ Discover more funding opportunities.

🗓️ kWh Summit: Bringing together utilities, regulators and EV innovators. May 13th, Toronto.

➡️ Discover more climate events.

🧑🏻‍💻 Corinex is hiring a Senior Firmware Engineer to design, develop and optimize firmware for its grid monitoring platform.

➡️ Find more open roles.