LOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY
Yes, governments should consistently make people aware that have safer cheaper cleaner healthier options than burning gas in and around their homes.
A new policy brief that is worth reading.
"In August 2022, the government announced a new strategy to optimize energy consumption. According to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, the government would use mazut and diesel to produce electricity instead of natural gas, which would be redirected to export. This substitution was anticipated to yield approximately USD 450 million monthly or USD 4.5 billion annually.
To this end, the government implemented rolling blackouts, initially lasting for one hour a day but extending to several hours over time, even during the scorching summer of 2023. When the heat wave broke in November 2022, the government continued the power cuts, which lasted for an average of two hours per day.
This policy brief aims to assess the effectiveness of the government's energy policies while presenting alternative policies that promise greater efficacy and mitigate the shortcomings of the existing approach. The period under analysis is the fiscal year 2022/23."
Your voice is more important now more than ever as Albany policymakers continue to push energy policy to limit the use of natural gas with the goal of forcing NYers to convert homes and businesses to all-electric. Say NO to any policy than attempts to ban natural gas in the future. #betterplannobans#natgas#alloptions
The energy transition is throwing up interesting and important questions about regulatory policy.
Should gas companies be able to depreciate new connections over 40 years when (in theory at least) home owners will have transitioned away from gas long before then?
Can electrical utilities pass the costs of reducing carbon emissions onto consumers and, if so, in what circumstances?
Recent developments in Ontario and Quebec have put these questions on the legal agenda, with potentially significant judicial decisions to come in the near future.
https://lnkd.in/gd6yRs4M
The Greens’ plan to stop all new coal, oil and gas projects along with the supporting infra-structure must be vigorously opposed.
If this occurs WA will run out of gas within 10 years - by the mid 2030’s, shutting off the main power source for households and industry.
Our State’s economy will be in crisis and households will struggle to afford rapidly rising electricity and gas bills.
Thousands of Moore residents are employed in the energy sector and I will strongly defend their livelihoods.
"Washington state’s biggest provider of natural gas is telling customers to get off gas. At least, that’s the implicit message in a pilot project launched by Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy, which seeks to electrify 10,000 Washington households. Next year the utility hopes to electrify even more."
Meanwhile in BC, lobbying by gas interests has prevented the provincial policy we need, which would provide the clarity the BC Utilities Commission and BC Hydro need to plan for a managed transition to greater electrification of building heat. This lobbying is also now leading to rollbacks, like the Vancouver city council's decision to reverse its current ban on natural gas-powered heating and cooling systems in new homes. https://lnkd.in/gr8njEX7
As I said to Peter, “We need to stop digging a bigger hole in terms of total size of the gas system and the sunk costs that have to be recovered by ratepayers, given the uncertain future of the system. For the next government in B.C., reconciling this needs to be on the top of the list of the energy minister’s mandate letter.” Over the past decade, that hole has deepened in BC at an average rate of 13,000 new gas connections per year.
The Canadian Climate Institute's recent Heat Exchange report found that on a cost-optimal path to net zero, electricity overwhelmingly powers residential space heating by 2050, with 68% electric heat pumps, 8% electric baseboard, and 23% Hybrid (electric heat pump with gas backup). https://lnkd.in/g6KnkE9x
The Institute also provides a clear set of recommendations https://lnkd.in/gqikk6wu the next BC government (and citizens/ratepayers) would benefit from following:
1. Provincial governments should equip regulators, system operators, and utilities to make decisions consistent with net zero.
2. Provincial governments should stop treating gas system expansion as the default option, and equip regulators to consider alternatives.
3. Provincial governments should require gas utilities to provide maps of their networks to facilitate a managed transition that protects ratepayers.
4. All orders of government should strengthen policies to support building electrification, peak management, and energy efficiency.
5. All orders of government should centre equity in policy design and provide targeted support to the most affected.
Domestic gas needs to go away within a decade or two. Which means gas networks need to start shrinking or at least stop growing. My latest for The Tyee shows how one utility is putting the brakes on gas expansion. This is the first output for a project supported by a Society of Environmental Journalists FEJ grant. https://lnkd.in/gF4i6pD9
Interesting news on WA's domestic gas policy! A parliamentary inquiry has found that the policy is no longer fit for purpose. WA's gas policy has been stable for a long time, and despite criticism from the East Coast, it has proven beneficial to the people of WA.
However, as gas continues to play a pivotal role in the energy transition, having a consistent and stable policy has never been more critical. Unfortunately, the current government has taken a selective approach in deviating from the long-standing policy. This parliamentary inquiry comes after the government made an exception to a selective project, and now other companies are lining up to ask for similar exceptions to be applied. Stay informed and read more on this development here: https://lnkd.in/ghd6MihV.
Alberta Electricity Update:
From the Market Surveillance Administrator.
Advice to support more effective competition in the electricity market:
Interim action and an Enhanced Energy Market for Alberta.
#abpoli#alberta#albertaenergy#electricity#powermarkets
Out now: A call for evidence from the Energy Crisis Commission.
The Commission has been established to learn lessons from the gas price crisis of the last 2-3 years. Chaired by former Treasury Minister Rt Hon David Laws, the commission includes representatives from Energy UK, CBI, Citizens Advice and National Energy Action. I'm very pleased to join them.
The Commission will make high-level recommendations on how the UK can be better equipped to withstand such crises in future. This isn't the first time a fossil fuel price shock has had wide ranging impacts on our economy - and it may not be the last.
https://lnkd.in/eesNjCj4
Independent energy consultant, author of the best-selling "My Efficient Electric Home Handbook".
1moLOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY Yes, governments should consistently make people aware that have safer cheaper cleaner healthier options than burning gas in and around their homes.