Backgrounder: Government of Canada Invests in Electricity Grid Modernization in Ontario

On August 15, 2025, the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced an investment of over $13 million for five projects that will contribute to electricity grid modernisation in Ontario.

Under the Energy Innovation Program (EIP) – Smart Grids Demonstration Call for Proposals, the following projects are receiving funding:

Project name: Centricity: Empowering Customers in Future Grid Evolution (2030)
Recipient: Alectra Utilities Corporation 
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Funding amount: $6,000,000
Description: The objective of this project is to transform Alectra Utilities Corporation’s distribution grid electricity customers into active electricity system participants by allowing customer-owned devices such as solar panels and batteries to access and benefit from electricity markets.

Alectra Utilities Corporation’s project is also receiving the Mission Innovation Green-Powered Future Mission International Collaboration Grant to support the engagement of stakeholders internationally on the success and learnings of their “Centricity: Empowering Customers in Future Grid Evolution (2030)” EIP – Smart Grid Demonstration project, mentioned above.

Project name: Centricity: Empowering Customers in Future Grid Evolution – MI GPFM International Collaboration and Knowledge Dissemination
Recipient: Alectra Utilities Corporation 
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Funding amount: $149,645
Description: Alectra will take on the role of the North American flagship project under the Mission Innovation Green Powered Future Mission’s “Five Demos in Five Continents” initiative — leveraging this grant to share knowledge and expertise from their demonstration project and to collaborate with international partners.

Project name: Deploying Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) Using Advance Multi-Port Power Conversion System to Power Industrial Facilities in Rural Weak-Grid Locations
Recipient: HIAH Corp.
Location: M’Chigeeng, Ontario
Funding amount: $3,160,000
Description: This project will develop and demonstrate a multi-port electric power conversion system (alternating current to direct current to alternating current, AC-DC-AC) that achieves power quality requirements while integrating standby generators, renewable generation and energy storage into a weak grid, thereby enabling a large industrial quarry to transition from diesel generators to renewable sources.

Project name: Distributed Energy Resources Management Platform (DERA) to Reduce Emissions and Support the Grid

Recipient: Peak Power Inc.

Location: Toronto, Ontario
Funding amount: $3,145,461
Description: The objective of this project is to deploy and demonstrate a distributed energy resource management system at three locations that can allow simultaneous optimization of distributed energy resources and customer participation in electricity markets.

Project name: Operating an Electricity Market at the Distribution Grid Using AI-Based Load Forecasting and Network-Constrained Optimization
Recipient: Enova Power Corp.
Location: Waterloo, Ontario
Funding amount: $750,000
Description: The project will operate a distribution-level electricity market using AI-based load forecasting and network-constrained optimization. Through incentivizing Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), the project aims to resolve capacity constraints at selected feeders and help defer traditional infrastructure investments, mitigating rate increases for ratepayers.