Union Gas urges more conservation

Toronto Star
April 5, 2011
John Spears

Union Gas urges more conservation

Union Gas says it will try to change the thinking of the Ontario Energy Board, which wants to limit energy-saving programs offered by gas utilities.

“The decision was abrupt, and took everybody by surprise,” said Keith Boulton, Union’s director of energy conservation strategy.

“It surprised us because it’s just so inconsistent with the recommendations of the board’s own staff and all the stakeholders, including the utilities the last two years.”

The surprise came in a letter issued by the energy board last week.

It told gas utilities to freeze their budgets for programs designed to reduce gas consumption. The programs are funded through the regular gas price.

The utilities, for example, have given away thousands of kits containing low-flow shower heads and insulating tape to wrap hot water pipes.

It also offers conservation programs for businesses, funded through the general gas rate.

The energy board says it’s concerned about cross-subsidization: Everyone pays for the programs through the over-all gas rate, but not everyone takes advantage of them.

But Boulton said that the modest cost is far outweighed by the substantial savings.

A typical household spends $1,000 a year on natural gas, he said. Gas conservation programs cost an extra $10 a year, but have the potential to save households $100 or more because they’ll use less gas, he said.

Business can benefit too, he added.

“The commercial-industrial customers have been able to increase their competitiveness through the programs delivered by both Union and Enrbidge,” he said.

“It’s protected and created new employment right here in Ontario.”

Union Gas currently spends about $9 per residential customer on the conservation programs in southern Ontario, while Enbridge spends about $6 per customer.

Energy board staff recommended increasing the amount for both utilities to $14 per customer by 2014, but the board members requested a freeze.

Boulton noted that the board has asked for comment, and said Union will make a case for expanded programs.

One measure with big potential is reducing the number of households with hot water tanks, he said.

It’s much more efficient to equip households with tankless systems, which heat water very rapidly whenever the hot water is turned on.

The gas companies wouldn’t underwrite the whole cost, but could promote the new equipment and offer incentives to customers.

The cause has also been taken up by the Legislature by Peter Tabuns, New Democratic Party MPP for Toronto-Danforth.

“Conservation programs could help Ontarians save almost a billion dollars over the next six years,” Tabuns said Monday, in urging the government to tell the energy board to expand conservation programs.

“Freezing a program is a strange way to show support” for conservation, he said.

Premier Dalton McGuinty didn’t directly disagree,

“All of us need to find ways every day in terms of how we lead our lives and where it’s possible for us to make investments to adopt conservation practices,” he said.