December 11, 2025 Ottawa, Ontario Natural Resources Canada
Bringing new innovations onto our electricity grid will ensure that Canada's electricity system continues meeting the needs of Canadians' homes and businesses - providing reliable, affordable and low-emissions power across the country.
Today, the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and the Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, announced $6 million in federal funding to Hydro Ottawa Limited (Hydro Ottawa) for the Ottawa Distributed Energy Resource Accelerator (ODERA) program.
Through this program, Hydro Ottawa will use AI-enhanced predictive analytics to accurately forecast peak demand, which will then inform the real-time balancing of supply and demand. This will be achieved by using a technology that transforms customer-owned assets - like smart thermostats, electric vehicle chargers and home batteries - into valuable, responsive grid resources, allowing the utility to proactively identify and mitigate grid constraints.
The optimization of Ottawa's electricity network - with ODERA serving as a pilot for growth neighbourhoods like the Kanata North area - will give consumers more control over their household consumption and improve the grid by effectively integrating and managing distributed energy resources (DERs) through technology.
Optimizing Ottawa's electricity network will make our electricity systems more efficient and resilient and will pave the way for a more cost-effective future.
