Ontario local electricity grid report misses innovation opportunity says Winfield

Local utilities could help manage distributed energy resources and changing electricity demand but Winfield says new report offers too narrow a vision

Ontario is missing an opportunity to prepare its local electricity grid for a more flexible energy system, Mark Winfield says, arguing that a report on local utilities pays too little attention to distributed energy resources and demand management.

In an interview with Energi Media, Winfield said the report addresses governance and infrastructure expansion but offers a limited vision for local distribution companies, or LDCs. He supports its attention to board expertise while questioning the narrow role it appears to envisage for utilities.

“It seems a very poles and wires kind of role for the LDCs,” he said.

Winfield argues that local utilities could coordinate resources connected to their networks, helping the wider electricity system manage changing demand and smaller sources of supply. Those resources could include electric vehicles, batteries and distributed generation.

Local utilities as coordinators

Rather than leaving the bulk electricity system to manage every device individually, local utilities could provide an interface between customer resources and the larger grid, Winfield said. They could organize local activity and respond to system needs by coordinating supply or reducing demand.

The discussion includes virtual power plants, which coordinate multiple distributed resources so they can operate collectively. Winfield said some Ontario utilities have explored these approaches and want a broader role in developing them.

His criticism concerns the space available for those organizations to innovate. In his reading, the report does not adequately recognize their potential to act as platforms and aggregators for distributed energy resources.

The implications extend to electric vehicle charging. Coordinating when vehicles charge, and exploring how suitable vehicles might supply electricity, would require utilities to manage more dynamic activity on local networks. Winfield argues that Ontario has organizations capable of helping with that task.

Demand management and lost capacity

Winfield also criticized changes to earlier demand management arrangements under the Ford government. He said local utilities had served as trusted delivery agents for conservation and efficiency programs, building relationships with customers and expertise in managing electricity use.

He argues that dismantling those arrangements weakened capacity that could support electrification. As vehicles, buildings and industrial processes change electricity demand, understanding customers and coordinating their consumption become more consequential.

The interview contrasts that local approach with what Winfield describes as Ontario’s emphasis on large, centralized generation. He argues that this focus leaves too little room for innovation at the distribution level, even where utilities are willing to manage the complexity.

A broader role in electrification

For Winfield, preparing the grid means considering what happens on both sides of the customer connection. Local utilities would still maintain and expand infrastructure, but they could also help organize flexible demand and distributed supply.

He characterized the report as a missed opportunity to articulate that wider role. His warning is that overlooking these options could deepen Ontario’s exposure to higher electricity costs and emissions.

The policy question emerging from the interview is whether Ontario will give local utilities the rules and responsibilities needed to coordinate a changing electricity system, alongside their traditional work of delivering power to customers. Winfield says that opportunity deserves much greater and sustained attention.