Federal Government scores a B+ on Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance 2009 National Energy Efficiency Report Card

Aug 19th, 2010 7:10 AM

Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance Releases its 2009 National Energy Efficiency Report Card Federal Government is Awarded a B+ (Ottawa, August 19, 2010) The Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance (CEEA) released their 2009 National Energy Efficiency Report Card in Edmonton, Alberta today. The Report Card evaluates the federal, provincial, and territorial governments on their energy efficiency performance every two years. This year’s scores reflect activities occurring between January 2008 and December 2009. Federal Government received a B+, slightly higher then the B they received in 2007. "We're very pleased with the progress we’re seeing in energy efficiency across the country,” said Ken Elsey, President and CEO of the CEEA. “This is the first year that we’ve seen three provinces receive a grade of A+, and most jurisdictions have either improved or maintained their previous score.” According to CEEA’s Report Card, the federal government's grade improvement can be attributed to their ecoENERGY retrofit program, which is estimated to have saved 11.22 peta joules of energy annually, with an estimated savings of $339 million to consumers who participated and a reduction of over 740,000 tonnes of GHG (up to February 2010), while the program has been closed to new participants, those registered have until March 2011 to claim their rebates. Overall the Federal Government exhibited great leadership and commitment to energy efficiency over the last two years. They have, and are supporting changes to the Building Code, they're making sure their buildings meet LEED's Gold level, and they have invested over $960 million between 2007 and 2011 to promote smarter energy use by the Canadian consumer through the ecoENERGY Efficiency Initiative. They have introduced the Energy Efficiency Act and associate regulations. NRCan has invested approximately $500,000 in standards development support in the last year—and while significant—CEEA hopes for increased funding in the future for standards. With regards to transportation, they have invested $21 million over four years in helping Canadians choose the most fuel efficient vehicles, efficient driving, and maintenance habits to reduce fuel consumption through their ecoENERGY for Personal Vehicles programs. They have also built awareness for energy efficiency through the Office of Energy Efficiency, and they have the NRCan's Audit and Evaluation Branch conducting evaluations of selected programs each year to ensure that the programs are meeting their targets in a cost-effective manner. CEEA continues to encourage the federal government to show leadership in the field of energy efficiency. "With the rising cost of energy and increased environmental concerns, Canadians expect all levels of government to take action on energy efficiency,” Elsey continued. “The federal government has an important role in this. Their support of conservation initiatives will continue to be essential if Canada is to achieve energy sustainability in the future. The ecoENERGY program was a tremendously successful program and showed real leadership, it has helped motivate the provinces and territories. They have a solid team of professionals on staff ready to do more—we’re just waiting for the political will to move energy efficiency into the high priority category.” Elsey concluded. CEEA’s bi-annual Report Card evaluates federal, provincial, and territorial governments on their energy efficiency performance across a number of key parameters; how each province has kept promises made at the Council of the Federation meeting (July 2008), the effectiveness of their own programs, initiatives in transportation, support for energy efficiency in building codes and product standards, how the jurisdictions supported energy efficiency and public outreach, the existence of public/private partnerships to support energy efficiency initiatives, and creation of energy efficiency acts, amongst others. Report Card highlights include three A+ grades for Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, and three most improved provinces; Alberta, PEI, and Nunavut. Alberta scored a B+ up from the D+ they received in 2007. PEI moved from a D to a B, and Nunavut from a C to a B. Some of the provinces that saw a drop in their score included British Columbia, going from an A+ to an A, Saskatchewan from a B+ to a B-, and the Northwest Territories moved from a B+ to a C. “British Columbia should be commended for their exceptional energy efficiency efforts over the last couple of years, but it’s hard to maintain an A+, the competition amongst the top provinces is significant —the bar is being constantly raised.” Elsey concluded. “It’s great to see Alberta jump from a D+ to a B+, that’s a huge improvement, and something Alberta must be congratulated for. We expect the leader in energy production to set the example for energy efficiency in the future! We’ve been hoping for this since the first Report Card was released ten years ago.” This year marks the tenth year that CEEA has evaluated federal, provincial and territorial government’s energy efficiency activities. With energy becoming more expensive, with its impact on the environment and the economic opportunity that comes with a sustainable energy plan—it is an increasingly critical part of the government’s responsibility. “Since our first Report Card released in 1999, CEEA has seen a great improvement in energy efficiency measures across the country. We can only hope that the trend to achieving A+ will continue. As Canada’s energy consumption continues to rise, and with supply dwindling, conservation and efficiency are crucial issues for all Canadians.” concluded Elsey. “This report shows Canadians how well their elected officials and senior bureaucrats are dealing with this issue.” A copy of the Report Card can be found online at energyefficiency.org. –30– For more information, please contact: Don Huff, Environmental Communication Options Office: 416.972.7404 Cell: 416.805.7720 huffd@huffstrategy.com The Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance (CEEA), a broad-based, not-for-profit organization, was established (1995) to respond to the lack of a coordinated multi-stakeholder effort to promote energy efficiency in Canada, leading to enhanced competitiveness and improved environmental protection. The CEEA works in partnership with manufacturers, utilities, governments, builders, labour, consumer groups, and environmental organizations to facilitate the adoption of energy efficiency measures in Canada. The CEEA is supported through fees and project contributions from members.