• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
  FEATURED
BREAKING: Don’t Attend COP 28 Unless You’re There to Help, Figueres Tells Oil and Gas September 21, 2023
Thorold Gas Peaker Plant Won’t Be Built After Unanimous City Council Vote September 20, 2023
Indoor Heat Leaves Canadians Unsafe with ‘No Escape’, CBC Investigation Finds September 20, 2023
Agrivoltaics a Win-Win for Farmers, Communities, Solar Developers, and Alberta’s UCP September 20, 2023
‘Beginning of the End’ for Oil and Gas as IEA Predicts Pre-2030 Peak September 19, 2023
Next
Prev

Opinion: An Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable Electricity Future for Atlantic Canada is Renewable

November 26, 2020
Reading time: 3 minutes
Full Story: Conservation Council of New Brunswick @cc_nb, Ecology Action Centre @EcologyAction
Primary Author: Louise Comeau @louise27comeau, Stephen Thomas @StephenJWT, Gurprasad Gurumurthy, Daniel Nunes

hpgruesen/ Pixabay

hpgruesen/ Pixabay

21
SHARES
 

Today, new wind and solar projects are the cheapest forms of electricity on Earth. Five times cheaper than coal, five times cheaper than nuclear energy, and three times cheaper than natural gas. These technologies have advanced significantly in the last 10 years and are more reliable than ever, especially when paired with new transmission networks connecting existing regional hydroelectric power with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and short- and long-term energy storage technologies.

Conservation Council of New Brunswick (CCNB) and Ecology Action Centre (EAC) research shows that electricity plans that favour cleaner electricity are cost-competitive. In fact, of the 24 electricity plans reviewed, 80% of the scenarios favouring efficiency and renewable energy were cheaper or within just a few per cent of the scenarios favouring conventional, polluting technologies.

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
Subscribe

What’s more, we can deploy wind, solar and energy storage in just a few years, while it could be a decade or more until we see potential electricity on the grid from technologies like Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs). When it comes to acting on the climate change crisis, we have no time to waste.

So why do we still lack commitments, plans, and pathways from our governments and utilities to set us on a clear pathway to affordable, reliable, environmentally-sustainable energy with cleaner electricity? What is getting in the way?

It turns out, it’s a political choice. Governments’ laws, regulations, and policies are not keeping pace with technology change or the need to protect our most vulnerable.

Two separate studies by East Coast Environmental Law for CCNB and EAC show, for example, that government rules:

• Stand in the way of spending more to help low-income households spend less on energy;

• Prevent utilities from considering the social and environmental costs of our electricity choices; and

• Fail to send long-term signals to plan now for a zero-emitting electricity system over the next 20 to 30 years.

Nova Scotia Power and NB Power are finalizing long-term plans for electricity in our region. While each has its strengths and weaknesses, we feel the utilities are missing important near- and longer-term opportunities to align health and environmental priorities with discussions of how best to keep the lights on at the relatively affordable rates we enjoy today.

As governments plan for the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to choose to help low-income households and prioritize cleaner electricity to build green careers and bring health and economic benefits to communities. We also have to update outdated utility board processes, rules, and regulations in our region that consistently fail to consider environmental and social costs associated with electricity, including consideration of low-income households and people struggling with energy poverty, when we set power rates.

We must do more to take climate change into account in electricity decisions. Our renewable energy targets must significantly increase over today’s levels, and we need to create new institutions that facilitate regional electricity cooperation. We need a focus on electricity bills, not just electricity rates, to maximize investments in energy efficiency.

We know that we’re living in a climate emergency—with declarations from the federal government, provinces, and dozens of municipalities across Canada. We know that renewable energy is the most affordable electricity on the planet. We know that cleaner electricity pathways are safer, more secure, and healthier for our communities. Let’s choose to get this done.

Part of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick and Ecology Action Centre’s Atlantic Electricity Vision Project.



in Batteries / Storage, Canada, Climate & Society, Coal, Demand & Distribution, Demand & Efficiency, Ending Emissions, Energy Access & Equity, Energy Politics, Fossil Fuels, Heat & Power, Hydropower, Jurisdictions, Legal & Regulatory, Nuclear, Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy, Solar, Sub-National Governments, Wind

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

UN Climate Change/flickr
COP Conferences

BREAKING: Don’t Attend COP 28 Unless You’re There to Help, Figueres Tells Oil and Gas

September 21, 2023
203
Jon Sullivan/flickr
Ontario

Thorold Gas Peaker Plant Won’t Be Built After Unanimous City Council Vote

September 21, 2023
517
Rewat Wannasuk/Pexels
Heat & Power

Virtual Power Plants Could Cut Peak Demand 20%, Save U.S. Grid $10B Per Year

September 20, 2023
66

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

UN Climate Change/flickr

BREAKING: Don’t Attend COP 28 Unless You’re There to Help, Figueres Tells Oil and Gas

September 21, 2023
203
Jon Sullivan/flickr

Thorold Gas Peaker Plant Won’t Be Built After Unanimous City Council Vote

September 21, 2023
517
Asurnipal/wikimedia commons

Agrivoltaics a Win-Win for Farmers, Communities, Solar Developers, and Alberta’s UCP

September 20, 2023
108
Cullen328/wikimedia commons

Manufactured Housing Could Dent the Affordable Housing Crunch with Energy-Efficient Designs

September 20, 2023
81
Mr Renewables/Wikipedia

Californians Fight for New Community Solar Plan

September 20, 2023
80
Kristoferb/Wikimedia Commons

Canadians Could Save $10.4B, Cut Climate Pollution by Replacing Central Air with Heat Pumps

August 28, 2023
669

Recent Posts

Rewat Wannasuk/Pexels

Virtual Power Plants Could Cut Peak Demand 20%, Save U.S. Grid $10B Per Year

September 20, 2023
66
Jeremy Bezanger/Unsplash

Indoor Heat Leaves Canadians Unsafe with ‘No Escape’, CBC Investigation Finds

September 20, 2023
32
Wesley Fryer/flickr

Smart Thermostats Boost Grid Stability Amid Intense Heat

September 20, 2023
31
Plug'n Drive/Wikimedia Commons

Rural Carshares Ensure EV Push Leaves No One Behind

September 20, 2023
24
/Piqusels

‘Beginning of the End’ for Oil and Gas as IEA Predicts Pre-2030 Peak

September 19, 2023
405
Clean Creatives

‘Turning Point’ for PR Industry as Clean Creatives Targets Fossil Industry Contracts

September 19, 2023
256
Next Post
Ed Schipul/Wikimedia Commons

GM Abandons Support for Trump’s Fuel Economy Rollback

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
The Energy Mix - Energy Central
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}