Canadian utilities are swimming in clean electricity proposals, which means more opportunities for lower-cost power and social benefit.
Canada doesn’t just need cleaner electricity, it needs more clean electricity. The country cannot meet its 2030 emissions target of 440 megatonnes, or make credible progress toward net zero by 2050, simply by cleaning up existing electricity supply. National electricity demand is expected to increase substantially by 2050, and meeting that demand will require generation capacity to roughly double or triple over that same time period.
In two previous Insights we looked at how much electricity utilities are seeking to meet rising provincial demand, as well as how much clean electricity supply is in the pipeline. This week, we fill out the picture by examining what happens at the procurement stage. How electricity is procured plays a critical role in shaping the price and availability of supply and ultimately in ensuring supply is abundant, affordable, and reliable.
This Insight reveals some good news: competition is helping provinces procure power with added benefits, such as Indigenous ownership of projects. With no shortage of clean energy projects coming forward, the market is ready to help deliver on a bigger, cleaner grid.
Highly competitive bids = lower-cost clean power for public utilities
Across Canada, competitions for new power generation have attracted two to nine times more supply than their procurement targets. Figure 1 shows just a slice of the bigger picture, focusing on provinces with regulated electricity markets and recent, transparent bid data.
In many ways, this competition is a good thing. It signals strong investor appetite to build and gives utilities the power to select the most competitive bids and choose projects that deliver both economic and social value. That means balancing price, location, and Indigenous participation, among other benefits.
Take British Columbia’s regulated electricity market, where the Crown utility, BC Hydro, supplies the majority of the province’s electricity. To meet faster than expected demand growth, BC Hydro has been ramping up competitive procurement from independent power producers (IPPs)—usually owned by corporations or other groups that are not publicly owned utilities. The utility launched two competitive procurement rounds in 2024 and 2025, the first in more than 15 years. Declining costs of wind, solar, and storage has meant that adding new renewable capacity is now not only faster but also cheaper than building new large hydro dams.
It turns out there was no lack of potential projects from independent power producers. BC Hydro set out to acquire an additional 3,000 GWh per year. In the end, the 2024 Call for Power received bids totalling 9,000 GWh—three times the target. In the end BC Hydro procured 60 per cent more capacity than they were looking for, boosting current BC Hydro supply by 8 per cent.
The competition for supply translated into benefits beyond price alone. BC Hydro used its 2024 Call for Power to not only secure more clean electricity but also set clear conditions for social value. For the first time each proposal also had to meet an eligibility requirement of at least 25 per cent First Nations equity ownership in a project. All 10 accepted bids exceeded this, with First Nations equity ranging from 49 to 51 per cent. The final average weighted price—which is the price adjusted to account for factors such as Indigenous equity and transmission and integration costs—came in at $74 per MWh. That’s still about 45 per cent lower than BC Hydro’s last call in 2008, after accounting for inflation.
Figure 1
Across provinces with similar government-owned utilities, competitive calls for power keep drawing strong investor appetite albeit with varying energy mix requirements, timelines, and project criteria.
Quebec’s latest request for power was issued in 2023 and sought 1,500 MW of wind power. It attracted bids for twice that amount. Similar to B.C., Quebec’s procurement process considered more than just economic value. Key criteria included roughly 50 per cent local community ownership, about 60 per cent Quebec content, and clear commitments to fostering positive relationships with Indigenous communities.
Ultimately, Hydro-Québec awarded contracts for around its target capacity through eight projects, six of which included Indigenous partnerships, at a final price of $78 per MWh.
A similar pattern has emerged in Saskatchewan, where the size and type of renewable projects procured have been growing bigger and more varied. Although detailed procurement data for Saskatchewan is not easily accessible, SaskPower’s public announcements show competitive procurements have steadily expanded the province’s renewable portfolio by adding solar to its wind-dominant energy mix.
Saskatchewan started with smaller wind projects in the early 2000s with an 11 MW facility in 2002. It has since moved on to larger ones, procuring four 200 MW facilities since 2021. The first solar project in the province was a modest 10 MW facility that opened in 2021. More recent projects are substantially larger, with two 100 MW facilities procured in 2024 and 2025. This is one indication of strong private capital support for scaling up clean electricity in response to growing demand.
Utilities across market types have also seen competitive, lower-cost clean power bids
Nova Scotia’s investor-owned utility, Nova Scotia Power, has run its own oversubscribed competitions. In 2022, the province’s Rate Base Procurement (RBP) sought 1,100 GWh of new wind or solar generation to meet growing demand across all users. This was later followed by a separate Green Choice Program for select industrial customers only.
The initial call drew bids totaling 2,250 GWh—more than double the target—at an average price of $52 per MWh. In the end, Nova Scotia Power selected four projects totalling 1,165 GWh, all with Indigenous partnership. The final tally adds up to roughly 11 per cent of total provincial electricity demand. Nova Scotia Power estimates the selected projects will save ratepayers an estimated $100 million annually over the next 25 years.
Even Alberta’s mostly open market experimented with procurement competitions in 2017 and 2018 with remarkable success. The competitions brought in new entrants and investment to the Alberta power market and were based on contracts for difference. Round 1 (2017) sought 400 MW but got nine times more in bids, and eventually procured 600 MW. The next two rounds were also highly competitive and led to some of the lowest prices globally at the time for renewables. The average weighted price for these projects was $37 per MWh and over time the government has continued to benefit from the contracts, gaining $75.5 million to 2022. These competitions showed the investor appetite for price certainty and potential benefits from smart procurement policy.
Clear, predictable, regular procurements can deliver faster, affordable clean power
It’s clear that private investment and capital in Canada is ready to rapidly build-out the grid to support growing electrification.
Provincial utilities can accelerate these investments through smarter procurement processes. For example, they can provide a clear level of ambition, like Hydro-Quebec’s plan to invest up to $110 billion by 2035. They can hold more frequent competitions, like BC Hydro’s commitment to hold calls for power every two years. And they can provide price certainty, like Alberta’s contracts for difference. On top of that, the federal government’s Clean Economy investment Tax Credits (ITCs) add further financial incentive to make it even more attractive for private capital to fund clean power projects.
Securing new clean electricity supply at competitive prices is important for managing overall system costs and keeping electricity rates low for customers.
The real barrier to expanding Canada’s clean electricity grid clearly isn’t a lack of projects— policy and planning also play an important role. Many provinces are already making smart procurement choices and tapping into private capital to build clean electricity faster, cheaper, and without bearing all the risk alone. They can—and should—do even more to accelerate this process and reap the benefits of low-cost clean power.
Nayantara Sudhakar is a Research Associate at the Canadian Climate Institute.