Ontario Government Must Act Now to Ensure Energy Conservation in the Future

ECO news release January 8, 2013

Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner, Gord Miller, says uncertainty about the future of electricity conservation programs is discouraging further energy savings in Ontario. 

Miller today released Volume Two of his 2011 Annual Energy Conservation Progress Report. This report 

annually reviews reductions in energy usage, increases in energy efficiency, and the progress and barriers 

to energy conservation. Volume One of the report was released in June 2012. 

The report shows that Ontario’s electricity conservation programs are cost effective and cheaper than 

generating power to supply demand. The cost of each kilowatt-hour saved through conservation programs 

in 2011 was about 3 cents. 

Yet the Environmental Commissioner found the government has been slower than expected in building a 

culture of conservation in Ontario, a goal announced by the government in 2004. “It’s been almost a 

decade, and we still have not gone beyond the foundation work to actually build the rest of the structure.” 

A critical pressure point was relieved recently when the government announced it was extending the 

conservation programs for the province’s local distribution companies (LDCs) for a year beyond their 

December 31, 2014 termination date. 

“This was an important development, but it is not a permanent solution,” said Miller. “The extension of 

the programs only highlights the need for a long-term commitment to funding conservation within 

electricity planning. The government needs to make conservation the new normal, so that everyone can 

build it into their business plans. Local distribution companies (LDCs) and suppliers have expressed 

reluctance to invest in needed programs without this assurance. Also, consumers and businesses may 

hesitate to sign up for programs with uncertain futures.” 

In his review, the Environmental Commissioner also evaluated the progress made towards meeting the 

2014 electricity conservation targets that had previously been established for the province’s LDCs. The 

report covers results from 2011, which was the first year of the new conservation framework that assigned 

LDCs a larger role in delivering conservation programs. 

The report found that while the distribution companies were on track to meet their target of reducing total 

electricity usage by 6,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) between 2011 and 2014, they would fall one-third short 

of needed reductions in the peak electricity demand. This could lead to increased use of natural gas-fired 

plants to meet this peak demand.  

The Progress Report also discovered significant differences in the conservation accomplishments of 

LDCs. One of the findings was that LDC size was not a strong predictor of achievement.

Report: Restoring Balance  

Bayshore Broadcasting January 8, 2013 by Jim Birchard 

Environment Commissioner says Simcoe County School Board saving energyOntario’s Environmental Commissioner has issued his second report dealing with Energy Conservation — and he is giving the Simcoe County District School Board a huge pat on the back for making their schools more energy efficient.

Gord Miller says the Simcoe Board has managed to reduce its energy consumption by more than 16 per cent and that has resulted in a saving of more than half a million dollars a year in operating costs.

Miller says more money could be spent on in-class education if the government and school boards improved efforts to reduce schools’ energy bills.

The government had to abandon its goal to reduce school energy use by 10 per cent after some schools could not measure consumption.

It collected data on the electricity and natural gas usage at every school in the province but won’t make the data public.

Miller says private companies could use the school data to spot opportunities for their services that reduce energy consumption and save boards money.