While identifying pathways…

While identifying pathways to a low-carbon energy system there is a critical aspect of engaging and educating Ontarians on how this energy transition will affect their lives and businesses. An important part of our programming at Pollution Probe is through the work of Energy Exchange.  Our goal is to engage Canadians and communities that have the most influence on Canada’s energy system in order to increase their energy and climate literacy about the system and about the broader context surrounding their particular area of expertise. We support this community to collaborate and build relationships with an overall focus on creating specific societal or system benefit (i.e. EV deployment and adoption, time-of-use pricing, energy efficiency, and conservation behaviours).

 

THE STORY ON ENERGY LITERACY IN CANADA IS CHANGING.

 

The traditional focus on energy literacy in Canada and Ontario was on building awareness and decision making capacity around our vast and diverse energy endowment. However, things have changed significantly and though it is still critical to educate people across Ontario on our energy system and the value it creates in their lives, we also need to address climate change and the transition towards a low carbon economy; new technologies and innovations; the need for conservation and efficiency; and an increasingly complex energy system that is evolving more rapidly than most can handle. This has caused uncertainty in the marketplace, leaving industry and energy end users confused and polarized on what path we should take as we move forward. Through engagement with our key stakeholders and our community of practice, we believe government focus on the following strategic areas would allow Ontarians to work together towards providing solutions to our transition to a low-carbon energy system:

 

1.Invest in Initiatives that Support Effective Change Management:  Ontario has repeatedly tried to make significant change (and in many instances scaled back or reversed this change) within our energy system.  Whether it be implementing a commercialized wholesale/retail electricity marketplace, shifting our supply mix toward renewable power, or introducing time-of-use pricing, we have collectively agreed and attempted – with varying degrees of success – to drive changes that many/most agreed were needed, but have repeatedly fallen short of executing them in a way that end use customers could understand.

 

The change we have committed to is even more significant. The type of complexity involved in a transition to a low-carbon energy system is incredibly challenging. Targeted energy and climate literacy—supporting the motive and call-to-action—form the critical link to supporting the kind of changes that will be required in order to more easily adapt to new technologies and behaviours.

 

Most organizations fail to accurately assess how difficult it really is to drive change initiatives – especially ones that have (at end point) impact on the general consumer (Kotter, J., Harvard Business Review, 2007). The key issue is that when social-technical changes are being developed many organizations make (often rational) assumptions about their intended audiences, while forgetting to think of some critical aspects about design (i.e. key barriers and enablers of change), what education/information consumers require, how these audiences being asked to absorb the change will feel (and react emotionally) and—most fatally—what the actual “user defined” version of the call to action is.

 

From an energy literacy perspective this means that the focus should be on taking a systems approach: developing critical thinking skills, ensuring messages are tailored to the audience and providing balanced information that activates collective values. Often we find this means translating information into an engaging format that is easy to understand, easy to digest, and easy to connect to personally.   It is important that the energy and climate literacy community has enough resources to provide Ontarians with the right information, at the right time and in the right format.   A few specific examples of programming where consumer focused change management and enhanced literacy/communications might be beneficial from a LTEP perspective include:

 

•Load Shifting:  Helping end-use consumers shift electricity usage to off-peak hours and to use overnight baseload potential (especially in the context of EV adoption) will help increase the effectiveness of the government’s demand-side management initiatives.

 

•Energy Conservation and Efficiency:  There are multiple incentives coming from various governments in 2017 and beyond to encourage at home energy conservation and efficiency behaviours; however, most consumers struggle with time, cost, and ability to implement.  Developing turn-key programs that create real and meaningful conservation and efficiency behaviours will help reduce energy supply needs at the lowest cost.

 

•Adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs):  Helping consumers in the decision-making process and providing the necessary EV adoption tools will be critical to the success of the province’s goal for EV sales by 2020 (For more detailed recommendations please see Pollution Probe’s submission to EBR Registry number 012-8840).  This will be particularly important with regards to free overnight EV charging and how this incentive will be deployed.

 

•Low Carbon Commuting:  Helping consumers understand what their low-carbon commuting options are and how to actually support behaviour changes with regards to active commuting, public transit, and EVs will support the provinces transportation decarbonization policies.  Pollution Probe is developing a consumer facing program called the ‘Low Carbon Commute’ which will be based off of the success of the Clean Air Commute—established by Pollution Probe in 1992 and operating for 22 years—to help drive the changes and mindset needed for low carbon mobility.

 

We’ve also segmented the Ontario population to identify those most interested or open to learning about energy for a more targeted and efficient approach to reach Ontarians in a dialogue around energy issues. These “Energy Engaged Citizens” want to learn more about energy issues and are stewards in their communities. Even though we need a provincial approach to energy and climate planning, communities want to have a say in their energy future and it is so important that they are engaged in a more effective way than they have been in the past. This means using new engagement and communication tools to ensure that we are engaging a wider demographic in a dialogue around energy and climate issues.

 

Energy Exchange is currently developing a community-level energy engagement initiative called the Energy Ambassadors Program.  This program will engage communities early on in the energy decision-making process in order to provide solid and credible foundational information about energy systems in Ontario and Canada.  The goal is to establish science– and fact-based discussions at the outset of the project approval processes.

 

2.Improve Publicly Available Energy and Climate Information and Data:  Ontarians do not have access to high quality, timely and robust energy and climate data sets that balance economic, environmental and social indicators. This information is not only critical to develop strong businesses cases and provide policy direction, but it is also essential to crafting our energy narrative. We know from our research that Ontarians want more reliable, accurate, and transparent data in order to help support their decision making abilities. This should include benchmarking of large energy users and GHG emitters by sector as we know that this kind of transparency and competition drives results quickly.  Two areas in which Energy Exchange has been active on providing Ontarians with better energy system information and data include:

 

•Primer on Energy Systems in Canada 1st and 2nd Edition:  This comprehensive resource is intended for the onboarding of new employees with energy-related roles, for educators and students at the high school or post-secondary level, for civil society and public sector employees, and for any citizen interested in furthering their understanding of how Canada’s energy system functions.  It has been peer-reviewed by a committee of nationally-recognized subject matter experts. It is full of useful facts and figures and practical examples of how to optimize energy use.  The first edition has been distributed to over 25,000 Canadians and the second edition is currently being launched. We will also be developing an e-learning platform to complement the primer in the coming months.  For more information: http://www.energy-exchange.net/energyprimer/

 

•Public Opinion Research:  In 2015, Energy Exchange partnered with a team of researchers from the University of Alberta, the University of New Brunswick, Dalhousie University and Cornell University to develop a nationally representative survey about Citizen Perspectives on Energy Issues.  In 2017, we are planning to conduct similar primary and secondary research in order to benchmark how well the broader energy end-user understands current energy issues and has accepted and/or absorbed recent and upcoming changes to the energy system.  For more information: http://www.energy-exchange.net/resources/citizen-perspectives-energy-issues-research/

 

3.Use a Collaborative Approach to Energy and Climate Decision Making:  The Province of Ontario must actively work in collaboration with the federal government, other provinces and territories, First Nations, Métis and Inuit leadership and communities (FNMI), local communities, businesses, and civil society to ensure that there is a coordinated and streamlined approach to energy and climate policies and regulatory processes.   This includes internal collaboration within the government of Ontario’s different ministries; for example, the LTEP should align with Ontario’s GHG emission reduction targets.   A collaborative approach that informs and authentically engages stakeholders will maximize the benefits of our energy and low-carbon future.

 

This is the approach we use at Pollution Probe and Energy Exchange to build consensus across stakeholder groups—even though it can take more time upfront and can be complicated and uncomfortable, ultimately it is more effective and efficient.  Our key recommendation is that all LTEP scenarios are rigorously evaluated and stacked against each other through a marginal abatement full cost accounting (i.e. externalities and co-benefits) methodology. This should be completed for each sector by a government sub-committee that engages with an external, independent multi-stakeholder advisory committee to ensure balance and foster public confidence in policy and regulatory recommendations. Innovation is moving rapidly and policy and regulatory processes must be nimble in order to keep up and maximize the potential benefits of new developments. A responsive policy environment that allows multiple solutions to be implemented with performance and cost dictating which options will progress is needed.  Given the likelihood of disruptive technologies coming into the energy system marketplace in the next 10 to 30 years, a decision-making process such as this will also help build resilience into the LTEP, minimizing the probability of stranded assets.

 

As citizens of an energy-rich nation possessing immense potential for wealth creation, Ontarians must champion a responsible and informed low-carbon energy transformation. It is essential that we help Ontarians feel comfortable engaging on energy issues and excited about our low-carbon energy potential so that they can participate meaningfully in the transition and help be a part of the solution. Members of Ontario’s energy community acknowledge that energy and climate literacy is an essential ingredient to build public confidence and expand investment opportunities into our future low-carbon energy system.

 

About Energy Exchange

 

Energy Exchange—a division of Pollution Probe—is dedicated to advancing energy and climate literacy in Canada. It aspires to a future in which Canadians are united in their energy prosperity. Energy Exchange sees energy and climate literacy at the core of a sustainable future for Canada. It is committed to fostering an energy culture that will ensure that Canada’s immense and varied energy wealth is used to build a rich and diversified economy and a vibrant and prosperous society. Visit www.energy-exchange.net for resources and details.

 

About Pollution Probe

 

Established in 1969, Pollution Probe is a national, non-profit organization that exists to improve the health and well-being of Canadians by advancing policy that achieves positive, tangible environmental change. Pollution Probe has a proven track record of working in partnership with industry and government to develop practical solutions to environmental challenges. Visit www.pollutionprobe.org for details.

 

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