You can't have a smart grid without energy information, and one of the outputs of a smart grid is energy information. It has to collect data in order to inform, even if it's an automatic decision. If we don't enable that data to be collected and used in a positive way, we've probably failed, and sometimes there are legislative impediments to the information to be used in the best way possible, and that's where governments need to examine whether they need to take action. If something is failing to happen because there's a legislative impediment, then it's your job, or it's the job of your colleagues in the provinces and territories.
Where we're seeing that today is, there are a number of jurisdictions across the country that have advanced meter infrastructure. They're collecting data, and they've all been very sensitive to this issue of privacy. Who gets to see the data? Sometimes they put in what I would call an iron fence, a moat and guns everywhere on the parapets, to make sure that nobody ever gets to see any of that information. It satisfies the public who are concerned that the data may be leaked, but if the only use that it has really is to bill you, then it isn't really living up to the opportunity. There's a way instead, I think, within that moat and that ring fence to be able to do analytical work. It takes that data, combines it with other datasets, and gets real value and meaning. In fact, Stats Canada is doing that today in other ways, but they're not getting that granular level of information.
Many of the ways we've been dealing with data can be extended to the new data and have the same standards of care and the same standards of protection of the private interest and still meet the public objectives, which are huge.
If I could just deviate for one second, Mr. Chair, I was just reviewing yesterday an article that had been in The Globe and Mail dealing with ecobee. Thirty thousand people across North America have given permission through ecobee for researchers to share their energy information on how they use energy within their homes. These kinds of things are very exciting and very positive. If we can help technology enable that kind of voluntarily giving up, as well as the general public interest work, we'll have a much better understanding of how to really manage energy systems for our own use and for everyone else.