Both climate and carbon footprint of predominant energy sources vary among provinces, territories, and latitudes in Canada. How can federal policy and program investments be regionally targeted to yield the greatest return in emissions reductions?
Cleaning the grid is obviously the way to reduce emissions, but energy efficiency is too, irrespective of grid. Government should incentivize energy efficiency in commercial buildings, again through technology training. Regional targeting could work as well, but also yield perverse results.
We know Alberta has a significant percentage of coal-powered power in their province, and it powers most of the commercial buildings. In Quebec it's more hydro-based, obviously. Each area will alway have regional differences in what programs can target different uses of energy sources. We recognize each region is going to have unique programs or unique responses to the issue, but again, we are a broad-based organization across all provinces, so we're here to help.