In addition to the LTEP (a provincial plan), regional plans, and local plans, the Ontario government anticipates further planning processes that will require some degree of coordination. A recent announcement noted that the province will also work with the Ontario Energy Board to incorporate the policy of conservation first into distributor planning processes for both electricity and natural gas utilities.
To promote community energy planning, the government has launched two programs:
• The Municipal Energy Plan Program, which is designed to help municipalities better understand their local energy needs and conservation opportunities, set goals and develop implementation plans.
• The Aboriginal Community Energy Plan Program, which is delivered by the OPA and designed to help Aboriginal communities identify and act upon their local conservation and renewable energy development opportunities.
To formalize regional planning, the OPA has established an Integrated Regional Resource Planning framework (IRRP). The objective of the IRRP process is to develop long-term electricity plans that thoughtfully integrate all relevant resource options, such as conservation and demand management, distributed generation, large-scale generation, transmission and distribution.
In addition to the above, the OPA released its Draft Remote Community Connection Plan in 2012 and the government identified the connection of remote First Nation communities as a priority in the new 2013 Long-Term Energy Plan.