Exploring Canada’s Power Landscape
Vittoria Bellissimo is the President and CEO of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association. Vittoria was previously the Executive Director of the Industrial Power Consumers Association of Alberta and worked in renewable energy procurement at both the Ontario Ministry of Energy and the Ontario Power Authority (now the IESO). Vittoria served on the Board of Emissions Reduction Alberta, as Vice Chair of Energy Efficiency Alberta, and was a founding Board member of Women+Power. She holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Sustainability from the University of Edinburgh and is a licensed professional engineer (B.Sc. Queen’s University). Vittoria is based in Calgary.
Navigating the global energy transition requires balancing rapid demand growth, grid reliability, and decarbonization targets across different regulatory and geographical landscapes. In these pages, an examination of energy issues in Canada and Japan provides insights into how distinct market environments and regional realities demand tailored regulatory solutions.
Public Utilities Fortnightly Executive Editor Rachel Bryant talked with two prominent energy leaders who offered vital international perspectives on how market structures, geography, and policy choices shape power system architecture. Together, these conversations provide actionable insights into grid resilience, capacity adequacy, and load integration.
Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) CEO Vittoria Bellissimo detailed Canada’s province-by-province procurement models and cross-border trade dynamics, while TEPCO Holdings Senior Fellow Hiroshi Okamoto reflected on Japan’s experience managing an electrically isolated, fuel-dependent island grid. Both leaders demonstrate that policy stability, long-term bilateral contracting, and technical collaboration are essential to powering the modern digital economy.
PUF’s Rachel Bryant: How do Canada’s provincial market designs shape wind, solar, and energy storage development compared to the United States?