From Legacy to Leadership: Powering Canada’s Next Energy Chapter

July 15, 2025

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The blog post was provided by TransAlta.

Canada’s electricity future holds incredible promise. As we work to power our homes, businesses and essential services, Canadians are increasingly focused on ensuring the electricity they consume is reliable, affordable and sustainable—the three-legged stool of a strong energy system. While the vision of a fully decarbonized, low-cost grid is inspiring, the path to achieving it is complex. It demands thoughtful, pragmatic solutions.

At TransAlta, we began in 1911 with a single hydro facility on the Bow River, west of Calgary. Over the past 114 years, we’ve grown into a globally diversified power generation company. Today, our portfolio spans over 88 wind, solar, hydro, gas and energy transition facilities across Canada, the United States and Australia.

TransAlta has undergone a remarkable transformation over the years. In 2005, we were responsible for approximately 5% of Canada’s total CO2 emissions. Fast forward to today, and we’ve reduced that footprint by 70%, largely due to our transition from coal to natural gas. That shift alone has enabled us to contribute nearly 10% toward Canada’s Paris Agreement targets—all while continuing to deliver reliable and affordable power to our customers.

Navigating a New Energy Reality

Across North America, the energy landscape is shifting rapidly. The rise of AI and data centres is driving an unprecedented demand for electricity. And at the same time, companies are navigating supply chain constraints, policy uncertainty and evolving market structures—all of which add new layers of complexity to how we plan and invest.

Traditionally energy demand across Canada has grown at a steady, predictable pace. But today we’re seeing a dramatic shift. The scale of new capacity needed is unlike anything we’ve seen before. It’s a staggering challenge—and a massive opportunity. As one of the few companies with the scale, flexibility and experience to deliver, we see this as a defining moment for our industry.

But as we explore these new opportunities, we need to be realistic. Supply chains are tight. Equipment that once took a year to procure, may now take four. On top of that, costs have doubled or tripled, and tariffs and regulatory uncertainty only add to the complexity.

As government policy evolves – both federally and provincially – companies like TransAlta need clarity and predictability. Stable, transparent regulatory frameworks are essential to unlocking private investment, accelerating project development, and ultimately supporting Canada’s energy and economic goals.

Looking ahead, TransAlta believes Canada has what it takes—from resources to infrastructure and talent. But as an organization and an industry, we need to act thoughtfully. Together, we need to ensure we build a system that’s reliable, affordable and sustainable—for everyone. With the right policy and investment environment we can turn today’s complexity into tomorrow’s competitive advantage.