The 2022 election campaign was launched against a backdrop of runaway inflation. All parties will come up with policies to address the concerns of families struggling to make ends meet. Some of the best solutions will come from what may seem like a surprising direction to some: climate policies.
To reduce the cost of living for families, today and in the coming decades, Quebec can act on two fronts: accelerate electrification to reduce energy bills and considerably increase adaptation efforts to reduce costs. accelerated climate impacts.
Electrify (almost) everything
Much of the energy we use comes from highly volatile fossil fuels, and their cost is often influenced by events beyond our control, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To reduce our dependence on volatile fossil fuels, we need to make a significant and rapid energy transition. This means increased generation from clean sources, such as wind or solar, and moving away from fossil fuel end-use energy, such as transportation and heating.
Although Quebec benefits from significant renewable electricity production, more than 54% of the province’s total energy consumption still comes from petroleum products and natural gas. Massive electrification of transport and heating, as electric vehicles and energy-efficient heat pumps become more accessible, would reduce the total household energy bill, as electricity is much more efficient and affordable than fuels. fossils. Ultimately, more than half of the province’s greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced.
Take the example of the Inflation Reduction Act (or Inflation Reduction Act) in the United States, whose name is not insignificant. Resources for the Future, an independent non-profit research group based in Washington DC, projected electricity prices for a series of scenarios under this law, taking into account the variability of future fossil fuel prices. , investment and technology costs, and the adoption of specific provisions in legislation. They determined that by switching to clean electricity, an average American family could reduce their electricity costs by $175 to $220 per year while being protected from the volatility of natural gas prices.
In Quebec and Canada, although the investments needed to increase electricity production and transmission capacity can have an impact on electricity rates, our analyzes show that the share of revenues allocated to electricity consumption energy from all sources will decrease significantly.
Adapt or… pay more, much more
It is already too late to completely avoid the warming that scientists have warned us about. In Quebec, accelerating climate change is costing households dearly, and the costs will only increase, hitting families in different ways.
There is the direct cost of damage caused by extreme events to homes and other property, not to mention the cost of rising insurance premiums. Even if households are insured, they have to bear part of the bill.
As the latest report from the Climate Institute of Canada shows, as climate change and its impact on the Quebec economy intensify, certain indirect costs are less apparent for households. Economic slowdown, tax hikes to pay bills for climate disasters, job losses and increased cost of goods due to disrupted supply chains will have a very real impact on households.
The question is no longer whether we can afford to act on climate change. We simply can no longer afford not to act.
The cost of living crisis is on the agenda in this election, but the role of fossil fuel volatility and climate damage in this crisis is not well enough understood. Neither can the means by which a good climate policy can protect Quebecers from further cost increases. Switching to clean electricity and increasing the resilience of our systems can have a real impact on the bills and well-being of Quebecers who will vote in this election, and in the many elections to come.