Energy policy is an increasingly important area for leaders of municipal government and the options for more localized management of energy options warrant closer attention at all levels. That was the key message from Gary McNamara, the President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and Mayor of the Town of Tecumseh, speaking on March 9.
“Municipal governments play a unique role in the energy sector, as both shareholders and major customers of LDCs and consumers of energy. As such, energy policy remains an important priority for our organization and our members. We must always consider these policies through the lens of these multiple roles and as community leaders,” he said.
AMO represents nearly all of Ontario’s 444 municipal governments. It develops policy positions on energy conservation, local and distributed generation, energy efficiency, climate change and related issues. AMO and the EDA have been following the discussion about options for financial restructuring of Hydro One and had put forward the view that municipal utilities would be amongst the best options as new owners of the distribution assets of Hydro One.
McNamara said that what’s needed is “a true partnership with the Province, municipalities and our municipal LDC community to ‘reshape’ Ontario’s distribution sector, generating maximum gains in efficiency for all Ontarians.”
AMO relies on its Energy Taskforce to develop policy and proposals in the energy sector. The Energy Taskforce is made up of more than two dozen local elected officials, municipal staff, and AMO staff.
Other energy policy priorities for AMO have included revisions to the approval and siting process for large renewable power projects, regional planning, and the design of provincially mandated energy conservation programs.
McNamara noted that, “We were successful in helping to influence the new RFQ-RFP process for siting large energy projects to allow for a greater municipal voice. The siting of wind energy in particular has been a priority concern for many municipalities.”
He outlined the association’s view on recent efforts to build new systems for regional energy planning. “We believe this is a great step forward in providing a greater local voice. We are hopeful that it will, in turn, stimulate more robust local energy planning. Local energy planning must incorporate the goals of municipal strategic plans and growth plans. We cannot fundamentally fulfil our vision for our communities without energy plans that also support that vision.”
LDCs have new targets to meet through the Province’s new Conservation First Framework, he pointed out. “As large energy consumers, municipal governments are eager to embrace Conservation and Demand Management programs. But capacity to implement these programs can be limited at the local level. We’d like to see a provincial focus on municipal conservation opportunities. We also believe that energy pricing and billing needs to better reward behaviour that reduces total energy demand.”
In addition to its policy work, AMO’s business corporation, Local Authority Services, or LAS for short, provides municipal governments with co-operative business services. These include energy services such as energy planning and benchmarking, LED streetlight upgrades, energy workshops and shared purchasing. It also provides a Solar PV service that works with the FIT program. Reiterating a theme of concern to stakeholders across the energy sector he said, “Ontario’s electricity system is highly complex. Few people recognize when they flick on the lights, just what it takes to deliver that power to them, the moment they need it. They only notice when it’s not there.”
Mr. McNamara also acknowledged the work of EDA President and CEO Charlie Macaluso, who expects to retire soon, after some 30 years in the energy sector.