Policy and Advocacy
Proposed changes to Ontario’s Net Metering Regulation to Support Community-Based Energy Systems
Proposed changes to Ontario’s Net Metering Regulation to Support Community-Based Energy Systems
Community net metering would enable Ontarians to benefit from 3rd party involvement and ownership of DERs or within their community without having to bear the upfront capital costs and operational requirements of having each property owner manage the DER themselves. It will help reduce costs of equipment and installation and allow communities to benefit from efficiencies of scale, increase implementation of DER, and advance economic development opportunities for Ontario’s DER market.
We do wish to put forward a few recommendations for your consideration that we feel would strengthen the regulatory proposal:
Credits for net metering should be calculated based on Time of Use (TOU) rates to advance basic principles of fairness and consistency and to better reflect the true value of electricity that is supplied during peak hours.
Increase alignment between land use planning and energy planning. Centralized energy planners, municipal planners and utility planners should be more proactive in identifying energy demand from new developments.
Streamline the DER connection approvals process and keep connection costs and requirements to reasonable and justifiable levels to remove unnecessary barriers to DER project implementation.
In order to improve customer choice and provide communities, residents and businesses with more options for managing their energy costs, meeting their thermal energy needs using highly efficient sources and enhancing operational resilience, members of the CHP Consortium recommend that the Ministry of Energy extend Ontario’s net metering eligibility to include high efficiency, small scale natural gas fired CHP projects.
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