VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS AND DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

IN ONTARIO:EMERGING CHALLENGES AND

OPPORTUNITIES

Ian RowlandsPresentat ion on Panel 6, ‘Pol icy Opt ions for

Renewable Energy Development in Ontar io and Canada’, at the ‘Cl imate Change and

Renewable Energy Pol icy in the EU and Canada Workshop’

@IanHRowlands

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PURPOSE

• To catalyze discussion regarding linkages between two sets of issues in Ontario – namely, advocacy and analysis on the part of vulnerable (particularly low-income) households and increased deployment of distributed renewable electricity

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OUTLINE

• ContextVulnerable households

Distributed renewable electricity

• ConnectionsElectricity data

Electricity partnerships

Prosumers

Sharing economy

• Recommendations and discussion

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CONTEXT

• Vulnerable households – some relevant contextThere is currently no definition of “vulnerable consumers”. LIEN recommends that this term should be clearly defined in the OEB Act and that the definition should encompass low-income households, including single-parent led families, the disabled, seniors, and those in receipt of social assistance. (January 2015)

http://www.rds.ontarioenergyboard.ca/webdrawer/webdrawer.dll/webdrawer/rec/462093/view/

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CONTEXT

• Vulnerable households – some relevant data11.6% of Ontario’s 4.9 million households are ‘low-income’

20.4% of Ontario’s 453,000 lone-parent family households are ‘low-income’

25.7% of Ontario’s 1.4 million renter households are ‘low-income’

Put another way: while 28.4% of all households rented in Ontario in 2011, 63.2% of low-income households did.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey, data table 99-014-X2011028.

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CONTEXT

• Distributed Renewable Electricity – some relevant definitions

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/renewable-electricity/7295; http://fit.powerauthority.on.ca/sites/default/files/version4/FIT-Price-Schedule-2016-01-01.pdf

Renewable energy is energy obtained from natural resources that can be naturally replenished or renewed within a human lifespan, that is, the resource is a sustainable source of energy.

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CONTEXT

• Distributed Renewable Electricity – some relevant data

Additionally,

‘embedded’ generation• solar – 2.15 TWh• wind – 1.12 TWh

LTEP (Ontario in 2025)• solar – 3%• wind – 11%

Independent Electricity System Operator, ‘Supply Overview’, http://www.ieso.ca/Pages/Power-Data/Supply.aspx; Independent Electricity System Operator, ‘Power to Ontario. On Demand.’, http://www.ieso.ca/; Achieving Balance: Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan (Toronto, ON: Ontario Ministry of Energy, 2013), p. 31.

Nuclear, 94.9, 62%Hydro, 37.1, 24%

Gas/oil, 14.8, 10%

Wind, 6.8, 4% Biofuel, 0.3, <1% Coal, 0.1, <1%

Solar, 0.0185, <1%

Ontario’s electricity output (TWh), by fuel type, 2014

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CONNECTIONS

http://communityservices.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/communityProgramsSupports/resources/EnergyAssistanceflyer.pdf#Energy Assistance Flyer; http://www.ieso.ca/PublishingImages/Pages/Ontario's-Power-System/Smart-Grid/default/smart-home.gif

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CONNECTIONS

• In a broader system

https://www.sgiclearinghouse.org/ConceptualModel

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CONNECTIONS: MORE ELECTRICITY DATA

http://us.sunpower.com/home-solar/; http://www.energyhub.uwaterloo.ca

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CONNECTIONS: MORE ELECTRICITY DATA

• Pros‘better’ energy management

• Consprivacy and security issues

http://www.albertasmartmeters.ca

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CONNECTIONS: ELECTRICITY PARTNERSHIPS

• growing and deepening network of relationships among various actors

http://solarcanadaconference.ca/attend/

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CONNECTIONS: ELECTRICITY PARTNERSHIPS

• attractiveness of the electricity account?

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/04/09/peel_region_services_for_poor_stretched_to_limit.html; http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2013/11/12/ontario_affordable_housing_waiting_lists_still_climbing.html

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CONNECTIONS: PROSUMERS

• Definition of prosumer:The term “prosumer” refers to consumers who also produce commodities or services.

http://iea-retd.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/RE-PROSUMERS_IEA-RETD_2014.pdf; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5woOVNgsld0; http://followgreenliving.com/carbon-credits-hoax-hope/

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CONNECTIONS: PROSUMERS

• potential risksinability to access inexpensive capital may be a barrier to entry

lack of resilience in the face of uncertainty may be a barrier to entry

lack of tenancy may be problematic• no ‘agency’ on the surrounding built environment• living the problematic ‘split incentive’ situation (vis-à-vis the

landlord-tenant relationship)

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CONNECTIONS: THE SHARING ECONOMY

• What might the ‘uber-isation’ and/or the ‘air bnb-isation’ of the electricity industry look like?

http://vandebron.pr.co/72191-an-online-marketplace-for-energy-a-world-first-in-the-netherlands

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CONNECTIONS: THE SHARING ECONOMY

• What is thus important?energy literacy and energy partnerships

• Low-income neighbourhoods’ influence in energy siting decisions

• What happens if grid defections increase, and the ‘utility death spiral’ becomes a reality?

utilities re-examine and potentially re-invent themselves?

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• Keep the ‘value proposition’ for vulnerable households clearly in sight

• Engage vulnerable households in renewable electricity development

• Take a holistic approach in energy poverty / sustainable energy policy-making

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• Ian H. Rowlands and Gord Stephen, Vulnerable Households and the Smart Grid in Ontario: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities (Toronto, ON: Metcalf Foundation, forthcoming).

• 15 interviewees and 7 other individuals who assisted with that report

http://metcalffoundation.com/

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SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

• Presenter’s contact details

Ian H. Rowlands

irowlands@uwaterloo.ca

@IanHRowlands

519-888-4567, ext. 32574

http://tinyurl.com/IanHRowlands