Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank the committee for having invited the Canadian Electricity Association to appear before you to discuss this important study on the current and future situation of national energy data in Canada.
I am pleased to be joined by Patrick Brown from Hydro Ottawa. Patrick is the manager of regulatory policy and research.
CEA is the national forum and voice of the electricity business in Canada. CEA membership is comprised of generation, transmission and distribution companies from across the country.
At over 80% GHG emissions-free and growing, the Canadian electricity sector stands ready to help fuel the transition towards a clean growth economy with the electrification of other sectors. Access to reliable and accurate energy information—information that is available in user friendly formats to the public, policy makers and industry—will be important in this transition.
Today I'll highlight some of the gaps in Canada's current national energy data collection system and propose a path forward: the creation of a Canadian energy information agency.
First, in terms of gaps, our current energy data collection system is complex, fragmented, and inefficient. Provincial, territorial, and federal levels of government all collect energy data.
On the federal side, complexity is exacerbated by the numerous departments and agencies responsible for producing energy information. Statistics Canada, the National Energy Board, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, just to name a few, are all involved in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of energy data.
This has led to overlapping information requests and analysis with varying standards, definitions, concepts and timeframes, which can result in inconsistent data. It creates challenges for stakeholders utilizing national energy data. We thus recommend a coherent harmonization of energy data that would reduce confusion for the end user while at the same time improving the efficiency of collection.
In short, we need a one-stop shop.
Second, why is a streamlined, efficient, and effective data collection system in the national interest? I see two primary benefits. First, it could help improve both public and private decision-making; second, it will help promote public energy literacy.
Regarding the former, electric utilities use national energy data to inform everything from system planning to public information campaigns. Similarly, NGOs use energy data to keep track of our progress and to inform their recommendations to both government and the public. All levels of decision-makers, including international agencies and our North American counterparts, also use national energy information to guide policy-making.
Third, on the importance of energy literacy, an informed and educated public that grasps energy concepts and trends will be indispensable in our path towards a “clean growth” future. While efficient and effective data collection in itself will not guarantee energy literacy among citizens, it will provide the solid foundation from which to build. In being provided with access to coherent, credible, and independent information that represents both sides of policy issues in an easily accessible format, the Canadian public will be better placed to participate in our national energy conversation.
Fourth, Canada should look to its counterparts and learn from international best practices in national data collection.
Currently, the United States has an Energy Information Administration, the EIA, which collects, analyzes and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policy-making and greater public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.
The EIA is independent of government and does not have to seek approval from any government office to collect, analyze, report or publish its findings. This model has done well and contributed to an increased understanding of energy issues in the U.S. The EIA pools together coherent and consistent energy data, standardizes definitions and collection methodologies, and has made it easier to report data.
Lastly, Canada should therefore create an energy information agency of its own.
CEA has long been advocating for the creation of an independent, non-partisan Canadian energy information agency. Recently, we reiterated this in our 2018 pre-budget submission to the House Standing Committee on Finance.
Indeed, CEA is not alone in this. Recommendation 1.3.1 of the report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board also pushed for it. At the Generation Energy Forum last year, Canadians also expressed the need for improved institutional structures and recommended establishing a data and modelling centre.
A CEIA would have as its sole purpose the collection, analysis, and distribution of energy information, ideally via regular public reports. The agency should consist of partnerships and information-sharing agreements between the federal and provincial and territorial governments, utilizing Statistics Canada for primary-source energy data or perhaps adopting this function itself.
The development of the CEIA should be guided by the following principles, namely, that we should facilitate the establishment of common definitions; ensure that appropriate safeguards and measures are in place to protect the sensitivity and confidentiality of data submitted by energy companies and other organizations; ease administrative burden by eliminating obligations to report the same data to different agencies; seek to ensure synergies with achievement of public policy objectives related to GHG reduction, climate change, and environmental protection; and finally, acknowledge the benefits associated with improved collection and dissemination of energy-related data from an economic-growth and investment-protection standpoint.
I would now like to invite my colleague from Hydro Ottawa to share a few thoughts on this topic from the perspective of a utility company.