Electric vehicle rebate among staff proposals to speed up Toronto’s target to become a carbon neutral city
A group of members of staff at the Toronto City Council have put a proposal forward to reduce the City’s electricity consumption by one million kilowatt hours, or about 0.1 per cent of the city’s total electricity use every year.
While the Council does not have a formal policy on this, the city staff are recommending that an ordinance be adopted to allow for the reduction of electricity consumption by one million kWh per year. This would result in the City reducing its electricity consumption by about 0.08 per cent annually, which is enough to offset the annual carbon emissions from the city’s transportation, water and sewage systems, energy consumption from the city’s garbage trucks, and the emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, along with any emissions related to the city’s greenhouse gas abatement activities.
To achieve this goal, the City would need to achieve and maintain a net zero energy use.
The staff report notes that “the City cannot legally buy and sell electricity as it is not a utility.” The staff report states that the City could achieve this goal either through the purchase of clean energy or through the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs). In Canada, RECs are sold by companies such as Canadian Clean Energy Trust, British Columbia Power Authority, Ontario Power Networks and the Alberta Power Corporation under a number of programs. The use of RECs also offers the opportunity for the City to buy renewable energy, which is typically a cheaper way to buy environmentally friendly electricity. The staff’s report notes that using RECs would generate financial benefits for the City, as the City would receive a rebate equal to the amount the City paid for the REC.
The staff report notes that the City believes the use of renewable energy and emissions offsets is a viable, cost-effective option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and as such, the City is recommending that the Council adopt such a policy “to the extent permitted by the Municipal Act.”
The staff report also notes that through the City’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), Toronto is required to reduce its energy consumption by 1.7 million kWh by 2020 at the same time that the City aims to be a net-zero-energy city. The staff report states that the City is not aware of any “cost-effective, cost-efficient measure to