The Electrical Power and Energy Conference has its roots in Ottawa.

Historically, the first symposium leading up to this conference was the Electrical Power Symposium (EPS) held in Ottawa in 2001 – co-hosted by the Ottawa IEEE and IEE organizational entities. The prime driver for hosting this event was a pronounced need to address the issue of deregulation in the electricity industry in Ontario at that time. This symposium was an opportunity to give voice to the various players in the de-regulation scenario and provided a forum for much debate between organizations, industry, academia and the public; especially regarding the actual implementation of deregulation.

EPS naturally developed into an annual event in Ottawa and became the host to new topics including: “The increasing debt and the widening gap between demand and supply” and, in 2004, “The tough choices facing Ontario, ranging from large-scale nuclear generation to demand management and distributed energy”.

With EPS 2005 the focus moved to more general issues such as the convergence of power and high technologies: communications, real-time applications, wide-area protection, smart metering, and automation in power systems. Among others EPS 2005 featured prominent members of the highly developed communications industry in Ottawa, also known as Silicon Valley North, as well as several distinguished speakers from outside of Canada.

EPS 2006 followed the same pattern as EPS 2005: a topic of wider interest was chosen and addressed by a number of international and Canadian and speakers. At the time “Distributed Generation and Smart Grids” were starting to garner attention. 2006 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla, the inventor of AC power systems. He was a member of the IEEE predecessor – American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) – its Fellow, and Vice-President 1892-1894. EPS 2006 was accordingly organized under the theme “From Tesla’s AC Power System to Distributed Generation and Smart Grids”.

Over the years, the Electrical Power Symposium grew in scope and attendance. Hence, in 2007 the symposium was renamed to the Electrical Power Conference (EPC) and changed in scope from a local symposium organized in Ottawa to a Canadian IEEE conference. EPC 2007 was held in Montreal and was sponsored by IEEE Canada and sponsored and organized by IEEE Montreal and Ottawa Sections. EPC 2007 was focussed on Renewable and Alternative Energy Resources.

EPC continued to grow and has been moving across Canada every since. In 2008 the conference was renamed to reflect both the power and energy components to the Electrical Power and Energy Conference. Below is a list of the various events, their locations, and the themes:

  • 2015: EPEC – London (Central Area Sections) – Smarter Resilient Power Systems
  • 2014: EPEC – Calgary – Partnership between Industrial Users and Power Providers
  • 2013: EPEC – Halifax – Innovative Leadership for Renewable Energy
  • 2012: EPEC – London (Central Area Sections) – Resilient Green Energy Systems for a Sustainable Society
  • 2011: EPEC – Winnipeg – Advanced Technologies for Emerging Power Systems
  • 2010: EPEC – Halifax – Sustainable Energy for an Intelligent Grid
  • 2009: EPEC – Montreal – Sustainable/ Renewable Energy Systems and Technologies
  • 2008: EPEC – Vancouver – Energy Innovation
  • 2007: EPC – Montreal – Renewable and Alternative Energy Resources
  • 2006: EPS – Ottawa – From Tesla’s AC Power System to Distributed Generation & Smart Grids
  • 2005: EPS – Ottawa – Convergence of Power and High Technologies
  • 2004: EPS – Ottawa – Ontario’s Tough Electricity Choices
  • 2003: EPS – Ottawa – Supply and Demand Challenges
  • 2002: EPS – Ottawa – Tricks and Treats in Evolving Electricity Markets
  • 2001: EPS – Ottawa – Electricity Deregulation (in Ontario)