Atlantic Canada Shows National Leadership on Energy Data – A New Report

Halifax, Nova Scotia – June 19, 2018. Today, QUEST released a groundbreaking Roadmap to guide policy and business development using energy and GHG emissions information in support of a lower carbon future for Atlantic Canada.

The Atlantic Canada Energy Data Roadmap recognizes that more data on energy use is critical in setting a baseline to manage progress in reducing GHG emissions that cause climate change. It then outlines the case for managing new energy data sources in ways that respect privacy while also creating useful sets of information to meet public policy needs.

The work by QUEST enabled Atlantic Canada to be the first region in Canada to undertake an investigation of how energy and emissions data is collected and reported on.

“The Roadmap starts with the premise that individuals have a right to keep their energy use private, but should also have the option to make it public in a simple, informed manner.”

At present, documenting energy use in Canada is fragmented and incomplete. The lack of standards means energy and related data sets cannot talk to one another.

Through the research and consultations done for the Roadmap, it has become clear that we do not have all the energy use data we need in order to improve accountability, measure progress, and develop new goals and objectives for a lower carbon economy and for Smart Energy Communities.

Better energy data is needed by governments, businesses, utilities and energy service providers, and academia to support research, evidence-based planning, and decision-making on the pathway to a lower carbon economy and Smart Energy Communities.

The Roadmap provides a guide to changing the way we collect, manage, use, and think about energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data in a world of overwhelmingly large amounts of data. While the focus of the report is on Atlantic Canada, the applications and learnings are applicable to the entire country.

The Roadmap starts with the premise that individuals have a right to keep their energy use private, but should also have the option to make it public in a simple, informed manner. The Roadmap also recognizes that there is great value in taking energy data and pairing it with other information to understand building performance and help in community energy plans. When such data sets are studied and analyzed, the Roadmap calls for the data to be consolidated and de-identified before being publicly reported.

This report outlines a series of policy and program options for governments and stakeholders to consider, including choices between voluntary requests for energy providers to provide more data, or legislative requirements that would be staged and sensitive to the economic costs of implementation.

These actions could enhance regional cooperation and linkages to other initiatives such as climate change legislation and regulation, as well as the potential creation of a Pan-Canadian Energy Information Agency.

The Roadmap was developed through a combination of research and consultation with a diverse range of content experts and stakeholders, across all four Atlantic Provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.

This project was made possible with funding support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the New Brunswick Department of Energy and Mines, New Brunswick Power, the Nova Scotia Department of Energy, and EfficiencyOne.