Energy Briefs: Ontario to open up Green Button access and demonstrate community net metering.

ENLISTING UTILITIES

Data directive and pilot project tap energy distributors to respond

GREEN BUTTON TO BE AVAILABLE BY NOVEMBER 2023

Electricity and gas distributors in Ontario must be ready to provide customers with their energy-use data by November 2023, based on a new regulation setting out the rules for the province-wide rollout of the Green Button program. That will ensure the vast majority of electricity and natural gas account holders can get access to, at minimum, hourly consumption data for a period of up to 24-months.

The regulation instructs designated electricity and gas utilities to comply with the North American standards for the program, which were developed jointly by the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) and the non-governmental organization, Green Button Alliance. The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) is currently conducting a consultation on Green Button implementation and will be providing further guidance.

Green Button was launched in 2011 when the United States Whitehouse policy office challenged that country’s utilities to come up with a web-based tool through which consumers could find their energy-use data. It’s estimated that about 60 million U.S. households now have access to their data via Green Button, as do approximately three million Canadian customers of utilities that have voluntarily adopted the program.

“Rolling out the Green Button protocol province-wide is a critical step in enabling customers to take actions to improve building performance and facilitate our transition to a low-carbon economy,” says Bala Gnanam, Vice President, Sustainability, Advocacy and Stakeholder Relations with the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada. “Accurate and timely access to data is fundamental to everything BOMA stands for in the area of operational excellence — energy efficiency, energy literacy, energy management, innovation, compliance and overall building performance.”

Under Ontario’s new rules, account holders will be able to directly request their energy-use information or authorize other parties to do so on their behalf. Energy providers will be expected to establish policies and procedures for access, authorization of third parties and protection of privacy, and to comply with other requirements the OEB may impose.

A handful of electricity utilities, mostly in northern Ontario, are exempted from the requirements. The regulation also provides for potential extensions to the November 2023 deadline for compliance “on the basis of technical or operational reasons that cannot be addressed at a reasonable cost” or if utilities face undue delays related to NAESB scheduling.

The previous Ontario government initially adopted the enabling legislation for the Green Button mandate as part of the former Green Energy Act. The current government transferred the section to the Electricity Act when it invoked the Green Energy Repeal Act in 2018. ■

COMMUNITY NET METERING DEMO PROJECT SELECTED

A 70-acre mixed-use development project in London, Ontario, will be a test site for an electricity generation and sharing model known as community net metering. Sifton Properties’ West 5 — now nearing buildout of approximately 2.5 million square feet of commercial and residential space in an array of low-rise to high-rise buildings targeting net-zero energy and water consumption — has been selected to demonstrate the possibilities, working in consort with London Hydro and with the backing of the Ontario government.

“This model is very important in the future of net-zero communities,” says Richard Sifton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sifton Properties.

The concept is an expansion of Ontario’s net metering program, which was enabled through a 2005 provincial regulation. More than 2,000 individual hydro account holders have agreements to generate on-site renewable power to meet part or all of their household/facility demand requirements, and are also connected to the electricity grid so they can pull or dispatch supply as necessary.

Net metered customers receive credits on their hydro bills for the power they send to the grid. However, until the Ontario government enacted a regulation earlier this year to authorize community net metering demonstration projects, there was no option to allocate those credits to other hydro accounts. The West 5 development will be the first to do so.

“Community net metering allows us to overproduce solar energy on one building, then use that energy in other buildings at West 5,” Sifton explains. “It allows us to continue exploring future opportunities from a community level, not building level. It opens the doors for micro grids, battery storage, high speed bus or car charging.”

As Ontario’s first demonstration project, West 5 is expected to be a learning opportunity for electricity utilities that will also derive insight and data on the environmental and economic impact of renewable energy collectives.

“London Hydro will develop innovative new tools and technology as well as gain valuable experience in installing and operating a microgrid,” predicts Vinay Sharma, the utility’s Chief Executive Officer.

“Net metering innovation harnesses clean, green technology to save taxpayers money — a combination that we all can get behind,” says David Piccini, Ontario Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. “I look forward to seeing the results of this demonstration and what net metering can mean for more projects that support a sustainable future.” ■