Post: Ontario maps electrification and energy transition

Ontario maps electrification and energy transition

The Ontario Ministry of Energy has highlighted the need for integrated energy system planning and meaningful participation in the future energy system.

The Electrification and Energy Transition Panel Report, published on January 19, builds on the Powering Ontario’s Growth plan and provides recommendations for future long-term integrated planning and the energy transition.

It notes that “the clean energy transition will primarily involve the electrification of energy services” and it  underscores the urgent and transformative shift in the global energy landscape, emphasizing the need to address climate change and support technological advancements.

Key recommendations from the report include:

• to provide clear direction for Ontario’s energy and economic future the provincial government should develop and communicate a commitment and associated policy principles for achieving a clean energy economy for Ontario by 2050
• that government should continue to seek alignment and coordination of clean energy economy objectives, standards, and policies with other governments (within and outside Canada) whenever practical and consistent with the province’s economic and policy interests
• to provide clarity to utilities, investors, and customers, the Ministry of Energy should provide policy direction on the role of natural gas in Ontario’s future energy system as part of its next integrated long-term energy plan
• establishment of an external Energy Transition Advisory Council to provide advice, independent of government and on an ongoing basis, on the overall trajectory of Ontario’s energy transition, emerging governance or energy system-level questions and the integration of energy planning and coordination with sectoral strategies
• legislative and/or regulatory changes, such as including GHG emissions as an additional factor to consider in proceedings such as transmission leave-to construct applications and revising objectives related to the natural gas sector to align with government policy direction on the long-term role of the sector
• that the Ministry of Energy, working with key stakeholders, should develop a formal and transparent co-ordination framework that sets out the scope and objectives for enhanced planning co-ordination at the bulk, regional, and distribution levels to effectively pace and facilitate the fuel-switching, system optimization and enhanced levels of energy efficiency required by the clean energy economy
• that mechanisms within existing mandates should be explored to create a level playing field in which distributed energy resources can provide their full value to customers by effectively competing with one another and with bulk-system resources
• that the provincial government should explore mechanisms to support broad adoption of fuel switching, decarbonization and supportive technologies such as electric vehicles, storage, and heat pumps to support its clean energy economy objectives.

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