(Ottawa) Ottawa plans to amend its proposed clean electricity regulations after consultations with industry, opening the door to more flexibility for individual electricity producers.
“We can still achieve the same goal,” said Oliver Anderson, spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The proposed changes, released Friday, would amend several provisions that industry and provincial governments opposed in the original version.
The changes suggest abandoning standards based on greenhouse gas emissions intensity. This means that producers would no longer be required to meet a single standard for the amount of carbon emitted per unit of energy.
Instead, each generator would be assigned an annual emissions limit.
Additionally, companies that own multiple generators would be allowed to aggregate emissions from facilities operating in the same province. Companies would also be allowed to purchase “carbon credits” to compensate for exceeding the limits assigned to them.
The federal government is also considering changes to how new power plants are subject to regulation.
Under the previous system, operators were concerned about the requirement that all generation be either renewable or equipped with a carbon emissions reduction system by 2035. They argued that projects already in construction would be disadvantaged and could be left behind once the new rules come into force.
The government is now proposing a time-limited exemption to this rule for fossil fuel generators that come into service before 2025.
“Any fossil fuel power generation built before 2025 can operate for 20 years without regulations applying,” Anderson said. There might be a little wiggle room on the start date. »
The private sector
Industries that produce their own electricity and feed extra quantity back into the grid are also affected by Ottawa’s proposals.
Previously, all electricity produced would have been affected by regulation. Under the proposed changes, only electricity reinjected into the network would be affected; electricity produced and used on site by the producing industry would not.
Finally, small generators producing less than 25 megawatts would still be exempt. But any new unit in the same installation collectively generating more than this power would have to comply with the regulations.
Mr. Anderson admits that the federal government has not calculated the impact of these changes on reducing GHG emissions. “This is one of the subjects on which we will carry out consultations, to see what the impact would be,” he declared. The ministry feels that this places us in the same waters. »
The government is asking the industry to respond to the suggested changes by March 15. These adjustments follow strong criticism of Ottawa’s initial proposals.
Alberta and Saskatchewan had argued that it was not possible for their networks to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. They said they could not eliminate fossil fuel plants or build enough carbon capture systems. carbon without harming the reliability of their network or costing consumers a fortune.
Energy economists had also called for more flexibility in federal regulations.
And environmentalists welcomed the new proposed regulations.
“The revised design of the proposed Clean Electricity Regulations is a welcome change that will provide more flexibility for system operators to protect reliability and support affordability for individuals and businesses,” said Jason Dion, director of research at the Climate Institute of Canada.
“Finalizing the regulations as soon as possible would provide political certainty for network operators, making planning and investments easier. »
Evan Pivnick, of the organization “Clean Energy Canada”, also hopes that the regulations will be finalized as soon as possible. But he cautions that any changes should not compromise the original goal.
“Flexibility must be balanced with necessary rigor, and more detail on the new proposal is needed to determine whether the former compromises the latter. »