The NIER Program has been an…

The NIER Program has been an effective mechanism to promote economic development and energy efficiency in Northern Ontario. Future extensions of the program should consider structural changes that have created additional electrical usage in the mining industry. In many cases, mines have become progressively deeper and more geographically extensive, increasing ventilation requirements and underground haulage distances as a result. In addition, many companies have made changes to mitigate climate change by replacing engine-driven underground mobile equipment with electrically-driven units, or by recovering mine heat to warm incoming ventilation air in order to reduce use of fossil fuels. For such reasons, as well as for increases in production tonnage, mining companies should be given the opportunity to increase the baselines used to monitor electrical consumption in future versions of the NIER Program rather than being limited to historical consumption levels.