Toronto: The Electricity Distributors Association (EDA) announced January 27 that all of its approximately 70 utility members had signed Energy Conservation Agreements (ECAs) with the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator. In them, the utilities commit to deliver conservation programs that will achieve a seven terawatt-hour reduction in provincial electricity use by the end of 2020. High efficiency customer-owned generation may qualify as a form of conservation under the program, if certain requirements are met.
“We appreciated the leadership of Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli last spring when he announced the new Conservation First framework, which expanded the roles and responsibilities of our utility members,” said EDA Chair Jim Hogan. “With formal agreements now in place, our members are preparing to move forward with our customers towards reaching aggressive provincial conservation goals. We look forward to our ongoing collaborations with the Ministry of Energy, the IESO and industry partners.”
The ECAs commit each local electricity distribution utility to prepare a conservation plan to achieve a specific conservation target within its service territory over a six-year period. Targets have been determined with reference to “achievable potential” assessments specific to individual service territories.
Collectively, achievement of these targets will result in the province-wide electricity-use reduction of seven terawatt hours. That equates to the amount of electricity consumed by about 700,000 typical Ontario homes in a year.
All conservation plans will be filed by May 1, 2015. They will specify the mix of local, regional and provincial programs that individual utilities will use to pursue their targets.
The recently signed ECAs represent significant change and improvement in the overall framework for energy conservation in Ontario, including: greater flexibility for electrical utilities to develop the mix of programs that will best promote conservation under the specific local conditions in their service territories; long-term and stable provincial funding for conservation efforts, combined with rigorous measures to ensure accountability and return-on-investment in conservation programs; and requirements for an interim review of local achievable conservation potential as well as review of target achievement generally over the six-year life of the framework.
EDA members will continue to focus on programs allowing for the active involvement of all types of customers, and which offer cost-management opportunities. “Conservation is a collective effort in which all Ontarians have to play a role and from which we can all benefit,” Hogan says. “We believe the new framework for 2015-2020 gives us the tools we need to succeed, and local electricity distributors are pleased to step up and lead this effort.”