Harnessing Canada's immense clean energy potential requires transformational investments to modernize our electricity grid. At the same time, climate change is having impacts on the reliability of grids that Canadians depend on. By investing in smart renewable energy and enabling grid modernization technologies in various communities across the country we are supporting ratepayers while advancing Canada's clean energy transition and the fight against climate change.
Today, Irek Kusmierczyk, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion and Member of Parliament for Windsor-Tecumseh, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, announced over $800,000 in funding to ENWIN Utilities for their innovative technology to protect ratepayers: the Self-Healing Grid: Automated Feeder Ring project. ENWIN Utilities also contributed to the project, bringing the total investment to $1.6 million.
MP Kusmierczyk also highlighted investments in workers in the 2022 Fall Economic Statement. The 2022 Fall Economic Statement includes a refundable investment tax credit for clean technologies, including clean energy generation and storage. The statement also included the creation of a Sustainable Jobs Training Centre and Secretariat, which will support thousands of workers in skills training and placements in the low-carbon economy.
The grid modernization project will protect two currently vulnerable segments of Windsor's grid by employing self-healing technology that includes monitoring of potential risks. This investment will help to minimize impacts to households on the grid and localize any issues, insulating ratepayers across Windsor while containing issues to their source. A clean, self-healing and reliable grid is critical to ensuring Canadians in Windsor receive the affordable and reliable energy they expect.
The increased reliability from the self-healing grid will provide service to an area of the city with a high proportion of low-income families and will not impose any direct costs on customers. These households will benefit from the project by avoiding costs associated with long power outages to ensure they keep reliable access to power.
