Industry News

IDEA, Quest and Enwave Respond to ECCC re: District Energy's Inclusion in Output-based Pricing System (OBPS)

Thank you for the opportunity to input into Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC’s) review of the federal carbon pricing backstop system, in particular the Output-based Pricing System (OBPS). We appreciate your continued openness to dialogue and engagement, and trust that the matters raised herein will be given serious and timely consideration.

Throughout the development of the OBPS we, the undersigned, made the case that district energy should be an included sector, for both electricity-related and thermal-related emissions.

By not including district energy in the OBPS, the government risks incenting short term decisions with long term implications, such as buildings installing carbon intense solutions, with useful lifespans of 20 to 30 years, instead of district energy.
Instead, by fully including district energy, the government will provide a market signal to building owners to connect to, or to stay on, district energy systems which will allow for greater opportunities for integrating technologies at scale, fuel switching and ultimately meeting the government’s goals of decarbonization.

While we applaud the government for including district energy under the electricity Output Based Standard (OBS), we firmly believe that now is the time to add thermal energy. The current exclusion of the thermal portion significantly undervalues the contribution that these systems can make towards achieving Canada’s climate targets.

Read the Letter