AI Analysis: Electric power generation, monthly generation by type of electricity

Executive Summary

Canada's monthly electricity generation from 2008 to 2025 is dominated by hydraulic turbine (hydro) power, which leads all sources with a monthly average of approximately 31 million MWh, followed by nuclear and conventional thermal generation. Total national output peaked at 0.65 billion MWh in 2017 and has remained within a stable range of 33.4M to 69.0M MWh per month, with no statistical outliers detected in aggregate totals. The dataset of 55,939 records is heavily right-skewed, reflecting the outsized contribution of a few large generation types and provinces against a backdrop of many smaller regional and niche sources.

Key Findings

• Hydraulic turbine generation is Canada's dominant electricity source, with the highest mean output at 3,741,895 MWh per month and the widest range of any single type at 40.2 million MWh, reflecting strong but seasonally variable hydro capacity.
• Total annual electricity generation peaked at 0.65 billion MWh in 2017 and was lowest at 0.57 billion MWh in 2010, indicating an overall growth trend of roughly 14% over the 17-year period.
• Nuclear steam turbine generation has the highest median of any individual source at 6,597,845 MWh, making it the most consistently large and stable contributor to Canada's electricity mix.
• Wind power has grown dramatically, with monthly output ranging from just 82,046 MWh to over 5.5 million MWh across the dataset period, reflecting rapid capacity expansion since 2008.
• 652 records containing negative generation values were detected across 6 generation types — the most extreme being -155,428 MWh for Conventional Steam Turbine — likely representing statistical adjustments or data corrections rather than physical generation.
• The overall dataset is strongly right-skewed, with a mean of 1,637,060 MWh versus a median of only 29,935 MWh, driven by a small number of very high-output entries reaching up to 66,771,096 MWh.
• Solar and tidal power turbines have near-zero medians and remain minor contributors to Canada's electricity mix, though solar shows measurable seasonal growth with monthly values reaching up to 757,891 MWh in recent years.