Topic: Energy Planning

The Regulation of District Energy Systems

This paper examines nine diverse systems, four under BCUC jurisdiction and five regulated by municipalities, to elicit the type and level of economic regulation that can encourage financial sustainability while providing customers with reasonably priced energy services.

This paper concludes with a number of key findings and recommendations:

  • The preferred regulatory approach is a cost-of-service regulatory model with a
    levelized rate structure to provide more affordable prices in early years, with a
    revenue deficiency deferral account to be repaid in later years as more customers
    connect;
  • A deemed capital structure, target risk premium and, in early years, a disproportionately high fixed charge rate component, round out the preferred model;
  • Up-front subsidies to offset capital costs can keep rates competitive and significantly enhance long-term financial viability.
  • Particularly for mature, well-managed systems without exclusivity provisions, a “light handed” regulatory framework should be pursued, while still maintaining procedural fairness and decisions based on evidence.

 

Sustainable Neighbourhood Development

This guide provides top-line, how-to information about the planning and development of sustainable neighbourhoods, offering practical solutions to common challenges. It answers
important questions about sustainable neighbourhood development:

  1. What is a sustainable neighbourhood, and how can I make the case for pursuing this kind of development?
  2. What are the major challenges, and how can they be overcome?
  3. Where else in Canada has this been done successfully, and what factors led to that success?
  4. Where can I go for more in-depth information?

Small Wind Siting and Zoning Study 

This study consists of five sections. Section 1 sums up the current treatment of small wind turbines in Canada, relying upon interviews, surveys and other research to paint a picture of how small wind turbine applications fare in the current regulatory environment, the definition of “small wind,” and how provincial and municipal government regulations impact these proposed electricity generators. Lessons learned from the U.S., where a few states have fairly mature planning and permitting systems in place, are also incorporated into this analysis. It is clear that at present, few, if any, Canadian municipalities, regions, provinces or other governmental structures possess an ideal package of policies governing small wind turbines.

Six Steps to Sustainable Community: A Guide to Local Action Planning

Local action planning is the process of creating a strategic document that outlines specifically how your municipality will achieve a selected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target. The resulting document, called a local action plan (LAP), is the third milestone in the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program.

This guide covers the development of a community-wide local action plan (LAP), that is, Milestone Three in the PCP program. The information provided here also applies to the development of an LAP for a corporation or similar organization — although with some minor procedural differences. (For example, internal working group meetings are held instead of public consultations.)
The step-by-step overview in the next section, Begin planning, shows how an LAP is developed. All of the steps are illustrated with examples from planning undertaken by PCP members. The subsequent section, Sustainability Snapshots, profiles 11 communities at various stages of the LAP process. All but one are PCP members. The remaining sections offer insights, lessons learned and additional resources to guide your municipality as it designs its own LAP.

Green Energy as a Rural Economic Development Tool

The purpose of this project was to undertake a series of activities that will help rural BC communities and First Nations affected by the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) epidemic, better understand the potential opportunities of Green Energy development and its potential contribution to rural economic development and diversification. The project was designed to work directly with a number of small rural communities in the interior of BC. Many rural communities in BC have expressed an interest in learning more about green energy development and in potentially developing their own Green energy project (e.g. a micro-hydro IPP).

Powering our Province

This report seeks to identify opportunities for rural communities in BC to become engaged in the clean energy sector.

The findings for this study are based on extensive secondary research supplemented by opinions and insights gathered through in-depth interviews with a representative sample of Independent Power Producer (IPP) companies in BC, as well as clean energy technology developers/ manufacturers, provincial and municipal government agencies, First Nations communities, power utilities, and other key stakeholders.

Many rural communities and First Nations, as well as the provincial government, are interested in exploring how the development of clean energy resources can contribute to economic growth and diversification. This is especially true for forestry-dependent communities in the interior of the province in areas affected by the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic and the collapse of the US housing market.

This report identifies five immediate business and employment opportunity areas for rural communities related to clean energy development. These are:

  1.  Skilled trades and construction;
  2.  Community and First Nations engagement;
  3.  Scientific and environmental monitoring;
  4.  Plant operations and maintenance; and
  5.  Indirect business support.

Policy and Governance Tools for Renewable Energy

Local governments around the world have been leaders in tackling climate change by promoting renewable energy at the community level, with innovative policies and programs that have made an impact on national energy policy.

Local governments can bring substantial benefits to their communities by encouraging and supporting the development of renewable energy.

Renewable energy includes sources of energy that are neither derived from fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, natural gas and propane) nor from nuclear power.

Renewable energy should be considered alongside other energy initiatives, including energy efficiency, sustainable transportation and sustainable community planning.

Local governments are well placed to champion renewable energy. Opportunities outlined in this guide include:

  • Local government policy frameworks that encourage or require developers to incorporate neighbourhood-scale renewable energy technologies (or ‘microgeneration’) into new developments
  • Removing barriers to renewable energy in the planning and permitting systems
  • Encouraging independent power producers to develop local renewable energy projects
  • Encouraging renewable energy utility companies to develop local renewable energy projects, such as ground-source heating and renewable district energy.

Opportunities for Mapping Rooftop Solar Energy using LiDAR

The report is intended to familiarize local government staff and elected officials with the potential benefits of using LiDAR. The specific application of LiDAR to solar energy mapping is provided in the repot, although this presents only one of many valuable products that can be generated from these datasets. LiDAR is becoming increasingly commonplace in municipal and regional government data libraries across British Columbia. However, staff are not often aware of the existence of these datasets, nor are the various planning and management relevant LiDAR applications well understood.

Community Energy Planning: Getting to Implementation in Canada

Community Energy Planning: Getting to Implementation in Canada  is a national, collaborative initiative accelerating the implementation of CEPs across Canada that can support the GHG reduction efforts of federal, provincial and territorial governments.

Making Progress on B.C.’s Climate Action Plan

British Columbia’s world-leading Climate Action Plan was launched in 2008 with aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG) targets of a 33% reduction from 2007 levels by 2020 and an 80% reduction by 2050. This report lets British Columbians know if the Climate Action Plan is on track. The indicators are very positive.

Provincial GHG’s fell 4.5% from 2007 to 2010 while at the same time, BC’s GDP growth outpaced the Canadian average, demonstrating that a strong carbon pricing policy that is revenue neutral can coexist with a growing economy. In fact the policy of taxing something undesirable (GHG  emissions) and reducing taxes on something desirable (income) is leading to innovative clean technology growth and changes in behaviour as both companies and individuals make choices based on the carbon pricing policy.