Powering Canada: a newsletter about electricity and our economy

Canadians have exciting ideas about how to expand our economy, further Reconciliation, make the most of the AI boom, and safeguard our sovereignty and national security. But it all takes electricity – gigawatts and gigawatts of electricity and thousands of kilometers of powerlines in every province and territory.

We have major obstacles ahead if we want to build the electricity grid we need to realize all these opportunities. Canadian grids lack robust long-term planning and oversight, have opaque permitting and procurement frameworks, and suffer from a general reluctance to spend on transmission. All these barriers are absolutely conquerable insofar as we make informed, thoughtful decisions.

My concern is that Canadians are not being provided the information needed to make such decisions and to keep elected officials on track. My goal is to cover these complex issues in a clear and simple way, focusing on core issues and opportunities facing Canada’s grid. So, we can better the direction and speed at which our power system develops.

I love this complicated, messy sector. I’m hoping to build a community here at Powering Canada that can share ideas and expertise – from within Canada and internationally – and have some fun along the way. I hope to see you here!

Newsletter

I’ll be starting with a newsletter but am open to adding a podcast based on subscriber interest – let me know! The newsletter will be delivered to your inbox twice a week, give or take.

To start, all Powering Canada content will be free to all subscribers, but I ask those who are able to become paid subscribers. Paying subscribers support this work and enable me to cover the entire country’s power news. Only paid subscribers are able to comment on articles and participate in discussion threads, which I’m hoping will help foster earnest and thoughtful discussion (i.e., keep out bots).

I’m always open to subscriber feedback on how to improve and expand the newsletter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Who am I?

I am a journalist who took to business reporting when one of my professors convinced me that “all news is financial news.” Put another way, as in every crime show ever, “follow the money.” I wholeheartedly agree with my prof and the TV detectives – if you understand the money flows, you understand the system, and then you can change it.

I wrote for Bloomberg New Energy Finance for years right out of school. I covered the financial collapse that caused the Great Recession and the renewable energy investment boom in the 2000s and early-2010s. It was fun but I wanted to understand infrastructure investment and development from the industry perspective – the risks, how capital decisions are made, and how governments plan.

So, I worked for over a decade in major infrastructure industries, first building a mobile wireless network and service in Atlantic Canada, and then developing wind, solar and battery projects across Canada and the U.S. I’ve led contract negotiations, business development, and policy work with all levels of governments and regulators. I have worked closely with local stakeholders and Indigenous communities and partners across Canada and the US.

Now, I’m ready to get back into journalism – my first love – to share updates and analysis on the key developments, challenges, and opportunities in Canada’s power sector with everyone who’s interested. I aim to build a community for sharing lessons learned and new ideas, so Canadians have the grid we need to make the most of our economic future. I hope you’ll join me!