As Canada races toward a net-zero future, one might expect commercial and industrial energy users to lead the charge, driven by cost-saving incentives tied to reduced energy consumption. Surprisingly, households are emerging as powerful agents of change.
According to Clean Energy Canada’s Empowering Households report, residential energy use, including vehicles, heating, and appliances, accounts for 17% of Canada’s emissions, rising to 30% in provinces like Ontario where oil and gas industries are less dominant. More strikingly, households are driving clean energy investments, contributing to nearly 60% of energy-investment growth in advanced economies since 2016.
As an energy data specialist, I see daily how this transformation is being undermined by a critical flaw: inaccessible, inaccurate, and unvalidated digital energy data.
The Cost of Inaccuracy: Billing / Meter Errors and misinformation is causing Consumer Harm
Utility billing errors are not just technical glitches—they are costly and widespread for the consumer, the utility and regulators. A study by 360 Energy Inc. found that inaccurate billing data can lead to overcharges of 5% to 15% annually for businesses and households. But why is this happening? Can we point to a route cause? There is no simple answer but there may be a simple solution. Access to data that is sourced from the systems that create it.
Ontario has taken significant steps to empower energy ratepayers with digital access to their consumption and bill data. Through Ontario Regulation 633/21: Energy Data, the government mandates electric and natural gas utilities to implement Green Button Connect My Data (CMD) and Download My Data (DMD) platforms. This regulation is enabled under Section 25.35.8 of the Electricity Act, 1998, and aligns with Ontario’s broader digital and data strategy to modernize utility services and promote transparency and innovation in the energy sector. These standards-based solutions allow customers and customer authorized third parties to securely access and digitally share energy data with authorized third parties, enabling better energy management, cost savings, and support for energy savings initiatives. This effort alone has the potential to save Ontario Billions of dollars because it allows a whole new industry to evolve. The question is, can this new digital strategy help sync up over 50 energy Utilities to provide easy access to validated source of truth data so we can show others that the data can assist in use cases for markets that are just now in development like VPPs DSOs and DERs. Can this dataset or even expanded datasets reduce future efforts to quickly advance our industry?
The reality in Ontario is that, complaints to the energy regulator about meter reading issues more than doubled between 2021 and 2023. This examples underscores the urgent need for validated, real-time digital energy data to protect consumers, ensure fair billing and the digital information received is "source of truth" to help everyone. The fact is that errors cannot be blamed just on the Utilities themselves. The Regulator does not understand how the bills are calculated because rates and grid overhead costs constantly changing due to political and regulatory advances to help the energy user. Utility legacy vendors mostly have islanded systems and there is a lack of reliable oversight due to market complexities that can’t be simply explained in one article. These complexities are costing everyone time and money while at the same time, it’s very difficult to audit this data when you must rely on multiple parties, segregated departments and infrastructure vendors that are competitors. It’s impossible to get all these parties to work together. Only if an externally audit is feasible that can provide advise back to the people that need assistance. To do that, you need accurate digital data.
Digital Data as a Source of Truth
Digital energy data—when its accessible and independently validated for accuracy—serves as a source of truth for consumers, innovators, utilities, and policymakers at the same time. It enables:
Verification of energy consumption and billing data
Effective and validated outcomes once analysed
Performance tracking of clean technologies
Informed decision-making for energy upgrades and conservation investments
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) emphasizes that digitization can enhance transparency, stakeholder participation, and governance outcomes in energy systems. Technologies like smart meters, IoT sensors, and AI-driven analytics are already transforming energy management, but only if the data they produce is trusted and the stats show, it is not. We need a collaborative effort now because if VPPs DSOs, and DERMs are going to work to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, it must be done with data that is trusted and accessible in a way that allows for fair competition and innovation.
Empowering Households Through Data
Clean Energy Canada’s survey of 3,000 Canadians revealed that 64% believe clean technologies save money over time, yet upfront costs and lack of clarity remain major barriers. That is not what many subject matter specialists expected to here but it shows we can’t focus on one group of energy users. We must focus on all types of energy users at once. Consumer authorized, independently validated digital data can help and it can be done all at once because the data and processes are the same for all types of energy users. Good data will provide significant advantages such as:
Demonstrate actual savings from electrification (e.g., EVs)
Support financing and rebates through verified usage
Enable smarter choices via personalized dashboards and alerts
Allow for innovation like AI to rapidly evolve to achieve real cost savings and reduced energy use for the grid
Without trusted data, households and everyone else in the energy industry are flying blind or even worse making financial discussions on risk with the wrong data. When we are unable to verify how bills are calculated and what energy is being used, we can’t ensure that the data can be reused to provide accurate outcomes.
Energy Efficiency as a Strategic Domestic Resource
Energy efficiency is more than a climate solution—it’s a strategic economic asset. As outlined in Energy Efficiency: The “Made-in-Canada” Resource by Efficiency Canada, many energy-saving technologies—from insulation to smart thermostats to heat recovery systems—are already produced or assembled in Canada, often using local expertise and recycled materials. These solutions not only reduce emissions and energy costs but also strengthen Canada’s resilience by decreasing reliance on foreign supply chains. Coordinating demand for energy efficiency across sectors through digital data access can unlock innovation, support domestic manufacturing, increase out roll in creating software solutions and build a more self-reliant clean energy economy. Accurate digital data needs to be provided to help the industry quickly grow to meet our needs.
A Call to Action for Policymakers
Canada’s energy data infrastructure is fragmented, inconsistent, and often inaccessible. Every province and territory has its own systems and issues and there is no Utility that manages data the same. As noted in Policy Options, Canada lacks a centralized, authoritative energy information system. This gap hinders evidence-based research, analysis, policy making and fuels public mistrust.
Policymakers, regulators and politicians must act now to:
Establish effective regional and national energy data authorities to standardize, validate, and securely publish energy data.
Mandate transparency and accountability in utility billing and meter data.
Fund digital infrastructure upgrades, including open data and platforms, to support research and Canadian built innovation.
Support consumer protection legislation that ensures proper authorization of personalized and depersonalized digital data by the data owners, the Utility customer.
Integrate digital data validation into climate and energy policy frameworks, including planning and grid management.
Conclusion: Data is the Foundation of a Fair Energy Future
Canada has always been a hub of innovation. The energy infrastructure needs assistance, so it properly support others that can help. Canada’s clean energy transition depends on household, commercial and industrial action. Everyone needs reliable data to support their decisions and actions. Providing and validating digital energy data isn’t just a technical fix—it’s a moral and economic imperative to meet our future energy needs and build new domestic economies that can be exported to international markets. By investing in energy data transparency and governance, Canada can empower its citizens,businesses and innovators at the same time while protecting consumers and accelerating the path energy efficiency opportunities that are at our doorstep.
References
[2] Utility billing errors: A significant hidden cost to consumers
[3] Grid Edge Management Reference Architecture and Policy ... - UNECE
[4] Canada’s energy data problem - Policy Options
[5] Energy Efficiency: The “Made-in-Canada” Resource – Full PDF