Moving broader public sector…

Moving broader public sector (BPS) energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting from its current bespoke reporting portal to Portfolio Manager (PM) will provide reporters, the government of Ontario, its agencies and other interested parties with standardized and comparable information. There are, however, a number of measures the Ministry of Energy (ENERGY) should take to ensure ongoing success of the program in terms of high reporting levels, measurable energy and GHG reductions and the use of the information by BPS organizations, ministries and other parties.

Measures ENERGY should take to support high levels of energy and GHG reporting and more importantly energy conservation and GHG emission reduction include:

Providing BPS organizations webinars, online tools and one-on-one support in early 2023 on:
o why reporting is moving to PM,
o basic energy literacy training to help organizations better understand their data and how it can be used to identify and undertake conservation opportunities
o how to use the new platform and how BPS organizations can benefit from the additional tools built into PM (e.g., more comparable outputs and energy use reports)
o information on the incentive programs and training available that can help BPS organizations conserve energy
o Reducing the burden of moving to a new platform by creating accounts in PM on the behalf of BPS organizations by leveraging their existing building information.

Ensuring that Green Button can be used by BPS organizations to acquire their energy use information and automatically inputting the required information into PM.

Supporting the adaptation of existing sector specific energy reporting tools to input energy use data into PM.

Providing BPS organizations with:
o their operation specific energy intensity and GHG emission benchmarks
o the corresponding median benchmarks and information on how to use that information to determine how their building’s compare to those medians
o how this information can help them develop their energy conservation and demand management plans and track their progress on conserving energy and reducing their GHG emissions.

Publishing annual reports that provide BPS organizations and the public with information on the program’s performance in terms of:
o reporting levels
o energy savings and GHG emission reductions
o highlight best performers
o how ENERGY is using the information submitted to develop its policies and programs.

Consulting with BPS stakeholders to determine if additional measures are necessary.

Consulting with BPS related ministries to determine how the information reported through PM could be used to address any duplicative reporting requirements they may have.