Natural Resources committee  The bigger point is that you'll have to invest in distribution of electricity.

Natural Resources committee  Yes.

Natural Resources committee  It will require some planning. We're not sure what the cost will be.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, but—

Natural Resources committee  I say “but” because you have to look at the economics as well. We're actually doing a study right now to look at four cities in Canada at the detailed energy system level. Let's say you convert a city like St. John's, Newfoundland to all-electric.

Natural Resources committee  First of all, in transportation, you're not going to be able to do that, because you have people who need their trucks out in the woods, and they're not going to be driving out in the woods with just an electric vehicle. It's just not going to happen, so it's not going to be 100%

Natural Resources committee  It's the range anxiety. That's just a minor point. Let me go to a more—

Natural Resources committee  It's a very good question. I think we would all like the different governments within this country to be working together more co-operatively and to be moving forward as opposed to taking steps back. That is an inefficiency in our process. The federal government could, with its b

Natural Resources committee  Sorry, could you rephrase?

Natural Resources committee  What I was trying to point out.... There is a term we use when we analyze energy efficiency programs, and it's called the avoided cost. The avoided cost is used to determine the cost of the next unit of supply, and any spending you would conduct on energy efficiency less than tha

Natural Resources committee  In the last 10 years, we've seen a significant reduction on our supply options. Natural gas prices have gone down by at least half, which means that natural gas electricity prices are around 5¢ to 6¢ per kilowatt hour. Wind has also come down in price. When backed up with natural

Natural Resources committee  Yes, it can be really energy-efficient, but it might not be economically efficient.

Natural Resources committee  In my experience, working with different associations and different governments, everyone seems to have different objectives. Before you get into identifying what the issues might be in terms of implementation, understanding the different objectives is paramount. Otherwise, there

Natural Resources committee  There you go. Go across the country. Pick a province. Pick a city. They all have a different brand for doing the same thing. It's quite frustrating. The first thing is to get them all in a room to see if you can reach agreement on what the objectives are. Then, keep them talking

Natural Resources committee  From an energy efficiency point of view, I think the best thing is consistency. Try to get whatever programs you're going to put together, and keep them consistent, because in a lot of cases, these small companies are almost completely reliant, in terms of their business plans, o