In the United States, dozens of cities have banned the connection of new buildings to the natural gas network. This environmental wind blowing south of the border is being emulated in Quebec, where many municipalities are considering this option, according to information gathered by The duty.
“It looks like it’s going to snowball,” says Emmanuel Cosgrove, director of Écohabitation. The organization has just completed “several” studies for Quebec municipalities – “both large and small” – which plan to ban natural gas in new constructions on their territory.
“A lot of people contact us,” also confirms Jean-Pierre Finet, an analyst at the Regrouping of environmental organizations in energy (ROEE). “Dozens” of elected officials, consultants and civil servants ask him to know how to prepare a regulation banning gas in new constructions.
The two specialists cannot reveal which municipalities are among their clients, professional secrecy obliges. But they assure that official announcements will occur very soon.
Last December, the City of New York imitated those of San Francisco, Seattle and Berkeley, among others, by prohibiting the use of natural gas in most new buildings on its territory.
Last Friday, it was the state of Washington that changed its regulations to mandate electric heating – and therefore, in practice, ban natural gas – in new multi-family dwellings and commercial buildings. A similar rule for single-family homes is expected to be considered later this year in that state.
The movement is also coming to Canada. Vancouver, which declared a “climate emergency” two years ago, has required since the start of 2022 that heating equipment in new homes on its territory be “zero emissions”. Exit the gas, therefore.
Asymmetric reluctance
For now, no Quebec municipality has adopted such a regulation.
In Quebec, 9% of new buildings are supplied with natural gas by Énergir. On average, each household heating with natural gas consumes 5000 cubic meters per year, thus releasing 9.5 tonnes of CO2 in the air.
At the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ), an energy committee will be formed in the coming weeks and it will probably look into the issue of the banning of natural gas in new constructions, explains its president, Daniel Côté.
“Overall, we must turn as much as possible to renewable energies,” he argues. Natural gas, even if it is considered by some to be cleaner than coal or oil, the fact remains that it is an energy that is not renewable. »
According to studies conducted by Écohabitation on behalf of several municipalities, citizens and real estate developers do not want to have access to natural gas. Not least because compatible devices are expensive, but also out of climate duty. “The famous life in blue, it doesn’t resonate too much anymore,” explains Mr. Cosgrove.
Even if public opinion would be ready to support a ban on natural gas in new construction, Mr. Cosgrove remarks that “elected officials are suspicious”. They fear in particular to fall under the scope of a lawsuit from Énergir if they prohibit him from extending his network at home, according to him.
If ever a municipality prohibited connections to natural gas, Énergir could effectively retaliate by trying to enforce its contract as “exclusive gas distributor” in Quebec in court, explains Jean-Pierre Finet. The company could also invoke its “obligation to serve” under the Act respecting the Régie de l’énergie, he adds.
Questioned by The dutya spokeswoman for Énergir, Élaine Arsenault, replied in an email: “If regulations were to be put in place, we believe that they should require the use of renewable energy in new buildings, rather than prohibit a type of equipment that can also provide carbon-free energy complementary to electricity, such as GNR [gaz naturel renouvelable] “.
According to specialists, other regulatory avenues would make it possible to circumvent the formal ban on natural gas in new constructions, but obtaining the same effect.
A municipality of the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM) could in particular use the Regulation respecting discharges into the atmosphere to strictly limit particles and CO2 released by the equipment of a new building. “It could mean that, de facto, natural gas is no longer eligible,” observes Mr. Finet.
A province-wide regulation is another possible option, as the fuel oil example shows. Since December 31, the Quebec government has banned the installation of oil-fired heaters in new constructions.
However, natural gas is still in the good graces of Quebec public authorities. Last summer, Énergir and Hydro-Québec signed an agreement to focus on dual-energy electricity/natural gas systems to manage peak energy demand. This agreement had been the subject of virulent criticism from environmentalist groups and certain energy experts.
To defend itself against a possible ban on gas entries, Énergir points out that the electricity/GNR dual energy is an “entirely renewable option which can be deployed in 2022 at a competitive price”. Note that in 2020, GNR accounted for only 0.1% of volumes in Énergir’s network, which is aiming for a proportion of 10% in 2030.