• 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
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022 January 31, 2023
Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB January 31, 2023
Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty January 31, 2023
Rainforest Carbon Credits from World’s Biggest Provider are ‘Largely Worthless’, Investigation Finds January 31, 2023
Danske Bank Quits New Fossil Fuel Financing January 23, 2023
Next
Prev

Back Low-Income Energy Savings, Efficiency Canada Urges Ottawa [Sign-On]

November 21, 2022
Reading time: 4 minutes
Primary Author: Mitchell Beer @mitchellbeer

B Sutherland/flickr

B Sutherland/flickr

663
SHARES
 

Provincial energy efficiency programs and national energy savings rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic, but energy savings for low-income households still need a lot more attention, Efficiency Canada concludes in the latest edition of its annual Provincial Energy Efficiency Scorecard.

The national organization found bright spots in provincial energy efficiency efforts, with several jurisdictions coming came up with “nation-leading policies” that could and should be adopted across the country, Policy Research Director Brendan Haley said in an interview last week. The scorecard points to the federal government’s 2020 model building codes and energy efficiency measures in the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan as two of the year’s most notable developments.

  • Be among the first to read The Energy Mix Weekender
  • A brand new weekly digest containing exclusive and essential climate stories from around the world.
  • The Weekender:The climate news you need.
New!
Subscribe

Overall energy savings increased 30.5% from 2020 to 2021, to a total of 18.7 petajoules (the equivalent of nearly 5,200 gigawatt-hours), with electricity savings leading the improvement at 48%.

One of the first tangible results of the scorecard is a sign-on for low-income energy efficiency, calling for measures in the next federal budget to remove financial barriers for low-income Canadians who want to make their homes more energy-efficient.

“No one should have to choose between eating, heating, and other essentials,” the sign-on states. “Yet millions of Canadians will struggle to afford rising energy costs this winter.”

But “with a few tweaks to existing programming and more funding, the federal government could provide rapid relief to Canadians struggling with home energy costs.”

Although only a few provinces are speeding up their plans to adopt the national model building code, the scorecard says several of them are updating their energy efficiency plans for the next three to five years. British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Quebec led the rankings again this year, with Nova Scotia moving up from third to second place, largely on the strength of its focused programs for low-income and Indigenous populations, Haley said. Ontario fell one rank, to fifth, and for the first time this year the scorecard had access to enough data to include the Yukon, which placed sixth. The country’s energy efficiency laggards include Alberta placing ninth, Newfoundland and Labrador tenth, and Saskatchewan last.

B.C. led the rankings with just 55 out of a possible 100 points for its energy efficiency programs, enabling policies, and specific measures for buildings, transportation, and industry. The scorecard includes a note advising readers to “think of a score of 100 points as a stretch goal or a summit to strive for,” not a percentage ranking.

And the breakdowns in the report show what that stretch goal might consist of: no province or territory earned more than 21 out of a possible 40 points for energy efficiency programs, only B.C. received more than 6 out of 19.5 for buildings, only Quebec and B.C. scored highly for transportation programs, and eight of the 11 jurisdictions showed up poorly on enabling programs.

The report includes an inventory of “strengths and opportunities” for each of the provinces and the Yukon. It calls on Ottawa to expand its low-income energy efficiency programming, mandate efficient and zero-carbon heating, define net-zero building performance standards, “crowd in” more funding by integrating with provincial efficiency programs, and attach clear expectations for regulatory and policy changes when it sends climate action funding to the provinces.

Haley said energy efficiency is advancing across the country because it doesn’t produce the same political polarization that has built up around explicit climate programs.

“In all the top provinces and even some of the bottom ones, we’re seeing commitments to nation-leading policies, and we’re seeing energy efficiency being a core component of climate plans,” he told The Energy Mix. B.C., for example, plans to mandate a minimum 100% efficiency standard for space and hot water heating, a move “that will make heat pumps the norm” in the province. B.C. is also getting set to require energy labels when buildings are sold and set emission limits that natural gas utilities can meet through energy efficiency.

In Quebec, utilities are working together to introduce electric heat pumps for most heating and cooling, but keep gas in place for the coldest days of the year. The plan has set off a “big debate”, Haley said, raising tough questions about whether gas back-up should ever be needed. But “just the fact that Quebec is actively having that debate shows that they’re well ahead of other provinces in thinking through heating decarbonization.”

There are still obstacles to overcome. “In all the provinces, even the leading ones, the big challenge is to align energy efficiency with net-zero emission and climate change goals,” he said. But “the other thing we’re seeing this year is that provincial policy-makers are recognizing that they really need energy efficiency, and provinces that have scaled back efficiency quite a bit are actually scrambling to ramp it back up.”

Ontario reversed its controversial cuts to electricity efficiency programs as it faces down an impending electricity shortage, Quebec doubled its efficiency targets after seeing its electricity surplus decline, and provinces like New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are expanding low-income efficiency programs in response to the high cost of fuel oil.

“So I do think there’s a recognition that this is really needed.,” Haley said. “But to grapple with climate change along the very short timelines we have, the quantum is not quite there.” That’s why the scorecard calls on Ottawa to “actually define what net-zero emission performance is,” then push provinces, territories, and municipalities to implement it.

Haley pointed to the federal government’s upcoming green building strategy as an opportunity to define net-zero emission intensities for different types of existing buildings, “then encourage regulations and incentives to meet those criteria.” That would mean “moving from just being happy with saving a little bit of energy toward aligning every single building with net-zero-compatible performance.”



in Auto & Alternative Vehicles, Buildings, Canada, Cities & Communities, Clean Electricity Grid, Community Climate Finance, Demand & Efficiency, Ending Emissions, Energy Access & Equity, Energy Politics, Finance & Investment, Jobs & Training, Legal & Regulatory, Sub-National Governments

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Mike Mozart/Flickr
Ending Emissions

BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022

January 31, 2023
322
Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures
Canada

Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB

January 31, 2023
196
CONFENIAE
Ending Emissions

Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

January 31, 2023
61

Comments 1

  1. Pingback: November 22, 2022. What came out of COP 27, BC’s environmental film festival, riding with Josh in the new lime green low speed vehicle

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

Mike Mozart/Flickr

BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022

January 31, 2023
322
Ken Teegardin www.SeniorLiving.Org/flickr

Virtual Power Plants Hit an ‘Inflection Point’

January 31, 2023
125
RL0919/wikimedia commons

Danske Bank Quits New Fossil Fuel Financing

January 23, 2023
2.4k
Doc Searls/Twitter

Guilbeault Could Intervene on Ontario Greenbelt Development

January 31, 2023
132
/snappy goat

Rainforest Carbon Credits from World’s Biggest Provider are ‘Largely Worthless’, Investigation Finds

January 31, 2023
94
Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures

Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB

January 31, 2023
196

Recent Posts

CONFENIAE

Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

January 31, 2023
61
Victorgrigas/wikimedia commons

World Bank Climate Reforms Too ‘Timid and Slow,’ Critics Warn

January 31, 2023
42
United Nations

Salvage of $20B ‘Floating Time Bomb’ Delayed by Rising Cost of Oil Tankers

January 27, 2023
121
@tongbingxue/Twitter

Extreme Warming Ahead Even as Worst-Case Scenarios Grow ‘Obsolete’

January 23, 2023
341
Rachel Notley/Facebook

Notley Scorches Federal Just Transition Bill as Fossil CEO Calls for Oilsands Boom

January 23, 2023
313
EcoAnalytics

Albertans Want a Just Transition, Despite Premier’s Grumbling

January 23, 2023
323
Next Post
hangela/pixabay

Vietnam to Seal $11B Funding Deal for Off-Coal Transition

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
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

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}