December 12, 2023 By Keith Sones I have two questions for you. First, how many people do you think you’ll meet in your life? It’s not that hard to determine, quite frankly. Yes, it requires a lot of assumptions to represent the “average” person, but it is possible. Before giving you the number, I should…
November 23, 2023 By Blake Marchand The demand for transformers and switchgear is being impacted by the proliferation of new industries: renewables, solar, energy storage, and data centres, for example. Historically, housing-starts were the key driver for transformer and switchgear demand. According to a panel discussion from Scotiabank and JST Power Equipment EVP & GM,…
November 22, 2023 Ontario residents, small businesses, and farms should be prepared for forthcoming changes in their electricity bills as the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) has introduced alterations to electricity prices under the regulated pricing plan. Commencing November 1, 2023, the Ontario Electricity Rebate, a financial aid initiative designed to alleviate consumer electricity expenses, is…
November 13, 2023 In August, primary energy production decreased in two of the six subsectors, resulting in a 1.4% year-over-year decline. Coal production (-37.5%) and primary electricity generation (-15.1%) were responsible for the drop. Meanwhile, secondary energy production saw a year-over-year increase of 4.2% in August, mainly due to a 4.2% rise in refined petroleum products. Hydroelectricity generation falls amid…
Electricity Human Resources Canada (EHRC) released its five-year Electricity in Demand: Labour Market Insights 2023-2028 report recently at a national launch event in Toronto at Ontario Power Generation (OPG) with attendance by industry executives, labour representatives, educators and sector stakeholders.
Earlier this year, Rexel announced the acquisition of Lineman’s Testing Laboratories (LTL), which allows Rexel to offer a complementary range of products and services and enhanced opportunities in the value-add market.
Trilliant, an international provider of utility solutions for advanced metering and smart grid systems, recently announced a custom-made product for the North American market with the release of its Trilliant Libra Series Edge-Ready Smart Electric Meter. The meter’s technology will allow utilities to enter the connectivity sphere by providing peer-to-peer data acquisition and analytics, while enabling new energy management features that benefit both customer and utility.
Steven Lupo, Managing Director of Trilliant Canada says this is a critical time for utilities as the industry shifts towards more-connected technologies. “Of course, anyone in the municipal services industry would comment that there’s always some form of disruption and challenge going on from various factors,” he said. However, the utility sector is on its way toward the second technological wave of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Similar to Industry 4.0 in industrial and manufacturing sectors, AMI 2.0 represents the implementation of edge computing, cloud services, IT, and software data analytics to streamline operations and improve services, with the potential of increasing revenue.
This is the third article we’ve done in this series with Trilliant Canada Managing Director, Steven Lupo. In the first article we looked at Trilliant’s Libra Smart Meter, while the second article focused on Advanced Metering Infrastructure and the broader industry impact of technology. Here Lupo discusses smart building applications and suite metering for multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs), providing some background information on how metering has traditionally been done, as well as the technologies that Trilliant is working with that improve on previous iterations with enhanced functionally to allow for new applications, e-mobility (EV charging), solar, as well as beyond the building envelope to involve smart city applications.
This article is a summary of EHRC’s Agents of Change panel, Bridging the Gap Between Talk and Action. The annual event hosted by EHRC at the Toronto Reference Library is a two-day event designed to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the electricity industry. Moderated by Humberto Carolo, Executive Director of the White Ribbon Campaign, panelists included Carol Calvert, Vice-President, People & Culture, Electrical Safety Authority; Carol Dayment, Senior Advisor, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Nova Scotia Power; and Dan Quigley, Federal Adjudicator.
Vincent Petit, Remi Pacou and Vincent Minier of Schneider Electric say “It is our responsibility, as a large organization, to make a positive impact by reducing our energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and contributing to societal progress, while being profitable. At Schneider Electric, our climate commitments aim to minimize carbon emissions for both our customers and our own company. For Schneider, this means the neutrality of our business ecosystem by 2025, net-zero carbon from our operations by 2030, and net-zero carbon of our end-to-end supply chain by 2050.”
Canada is a country, “where there’s a lot of work to be done, to be honest, when it comes to energy efficiency in our buildings,” commented Hugo Lafontaine, Vice President – Power Products and Digital Energy with Schneider Electric. “Our buildings, both private and public, are behind the times.” The flip side is that makes for an exciting time in Canada when it comes to the opportunities to implement new technologies and solutions.
The energy industry is experiencing a transition, and a major part of this is for greater sustainability. It’s an important pillar in our society’s desire to keep the planet a safe place for future generations. It’s also become a critical part of our company’s mission to deliver products that are sustainable as well as economically viable. This intent to make products and services, like smart meters and sensors, more sustainable comes from many sources: our own wish for more responsible business practices, but also it comes from customers, and ultimately, their customers.
As Canada’s energy sector works towards a net-zero carbon economy, the passion and drive of the next generation will be the power behind that transition to a clean energy future. The Canadian workforce is undergoing a dramatic demographic shift. Today’s youth will become the architects of tomorrow who will design and deliver our sustainable energy opportunities and systems. We must empower our youth to become tomorrow’s clean economy leaders. Yet, there remains a youth deficit in our industry.
Based in Burnaby, B.C., RIC Electronics is a company founded in 1981 around power and backup systems. Since then, the company has expanded from three employees to over 50 and has grown into a 30,000 sq. ft. facility. RIC is distinguished by ingenuity in engineering design and manufacturing of industrial grade battery chargers/rectifiers, DC and AC UPS systems, converters and inverters for the marine, defense, utility, telecom, oil and gas, and mining industries.
Weidmüller is well-known for its products that are engineered for the traditional energy markets. Today, across the globe, there is a push when it comes to new energy and renewable energy. Weidmüller Canada is well-positioned to serve this market with industry-specific products in solar, wind, and hydrogen. Canadian companies who want to break into the new energy space can turn to Weidmüller, not only for their products and solutions, but also for an industry partner who will support them on their journey of implementing new energy solutions into their operations.