Resilient LLP (formerly DeMarco Allan LLP)
Tag

Clean Electricity Standard

Browsing

Canada Publishes Finalized Clean Electricity Regulations

No Comments By

Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change (the “Minister”) yesterday announced the finalization and publication today of the Clean Electricity Regulations (“CER”) in the Canada Gazette, Part II (see our earlier bulletin on the draft CER here). CER establishes significant annual emission limits (“AEL”) to reduce greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions from fossil fuel-generated electricity generation facilities in all provinces and territories across Canada starting in 2035. Requirements to reduce emissions under CER start in 2035 with a pathway to reaching net-zero in 2050. Environment and Climate Change Canada (“ECCC”) estimates that the CER would reduce approximately 181 megatonnes of cumulative GHG emissions between 2024 and 2050. The CER imposes significant registration, record keeping, and reporting obligations on covered electricity generation facilities.   This bulletin briefly summarizes the key provisions of CER and federal financial support to help decarbonize and expand Canada’s electricity system.   Scope. A “unit” is regulated under the CER if it meets all of the following three criteria: It has an electricity generation capacity of 25 megawatts (“MW”) or greater (or is a new unit located at a facility where the sum of all new electricity generation unit capacity is 25 MW or greater); It generates electricity using fossil fuel; and It is connected, directly or indirectly, to an “electricity system” that is subject to North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) standards. A unit that has an electricity generation capacity of less than 25 MW is deemed to meet the first criteria if the unit’s commissioning date is on or after January 1, 2025 and the sum of the electricity generation capacity of all units, other than planned units, that are located at the facility where the unit is located and that also have commissioning dates on or after January 1, 2025 is at least 25 MW.   CER does not apply…

Read More
By

Canada Releases 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan

No Comments By

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) today released the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (the Plan) under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act (the Act; read our earlier bulletin on the Act here). The Plan sets out current actions, additional funding of $9.1B, and several new initiatives to meet Canada’s emissions reduction target of 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030, as provided last year in an update to Canada’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement (read our earlier bulletin on Canada’s updated NDC targets here).   The Plan also sets a new interim objective of reducing GHGs by 20% below 2005 levels by 2026, noting that this interim objective is not an official target akin to Canada’s 2030 NDC, but that progress towards achieving the objective will be a cornerstone of progress reports associated with the Plan in 2023, 2025, and 2027.   This bulletin highlights key parts of the Plan and summarizes the newly announced funding and initiatives, across the following categories: Carbon pricing Clean fuels Clean growth funding Methane Buildings Electricity Heavy industry Oil and gas Transportation Agriculture Waste Nature-based solutions Clean technology and climate innovation Sustainable finance Jobs, skills, and communities Prime Minister Justin Trudeau launched the Plan in an address at the GLOBE Forum in Vancouver earlier today.  Carbon pricing. The Plan notes the measures undertaken to address economy-wide emissions including the federal fuel charge and the Output-Based Pricing System for industrial emitters under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. Escalating the federal benchmark price to $170 by 2030 is meant to further support the 2030 targets of the federal government along with continued consultations on a possible border carbon adjustment (read our earlier bulletin here). Very significantly, the Plan puts forward the concept of investment approaches, like carbon contracts for differences, which enshrine future price levels in contracts between the federal government and low-carbon…

Read More
By

ECCC Consulting on Developing a Clean Electricity Standard

No Comments By

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) today released a discussion paper, “A Clean Electricity Standard in support of a net-zero electricity sector” (the Discussion Paper), as part of its first steps in developing and consulting on a Clean Electricity Standard (CES) under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. This bulletin summarizes key details of the Discussion Paper and provides important information on ECCC’s consultation on developing a CES.   Purpose. The Discussion Paper indicates that its purpose is to support the government’s intention to introduce regulations to achieve a net-zero electricity system by 2035 and invite comments regarding the scope and design of the CES. The Discussion Paper notes that Canada’s electricity system is currently 82% non-emitting but remains Canada’s 4th largest source of emissions, accounting for 8.4% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019.   Proposed CES Regulations. The Discussion Paper notes that carbon pricing will be insufficient to ensure that the electricity sector achieves net-zero emissions by 2035 or likely even by 2050. Therefore, a nation-wide CES regulation will complement carbon pricing by requiring the phase-out of all conventional fossil fuel electricity generation and incentivizing fuel switching in other sectors. The scope and design of the CES regulations will also need to provide enough compliance flexibility to allow for the use of natural gas for emergency events, back-up power to complement renewables, and supplying power during seasonal peaks of demand. The proposed CES regulations may, among other things: apply to all sources of emitting electricity generation that sell to the grid; transition the electricity sector to net-zero by 2035 while providing increased supply of electricity to support electrification and the role of available technologies in the provision of clean power to Canadians; be stringent enough to achieve its objectives while including compliance flexibility, such as robust GHG offsets, and allow for the…

Read More
By