Working Groups Getting Down to Business

QUEST is forging ahead with the development of outcome focused Working Groups and Task Forces across the country on topics of interest, such as combined heat and power, district energy, Indigenous energy, municipal learning, high performance building, climate change, transportation and energy policy, among others. There are currently 8 active Working Groups and Task Forces and 3 under development!

Here is a snapshot of some of the activities underway:

The Smart Energy Leaders’ Dialogue, a national working group that was established in 2013, is a forum for senior executives and decision makers from the Canadian energy industry, government, and related sectors to formulate common understanding and develop critical insight concerning energy in communities across Canada with a focus on the development of Smart Energy Communities. This year the Leaders’ Dialogue is meeting bi-annually in Ottawa in a salon-style format with invited guest speakers and interactive facilitated conversations on topics such as the value of energy, implementing innovation in energy delivery and energy efficiency, and responding to climate policy.

Nova Scotia’s Municipal Energy Learning Group (MELG) and Ontario’s Municipal Working Group (MWG) act as resources for municipalities engaged in community energy planning, partnership-building, and Smart Energy projects to share their experiences, lessons learned, and transfer knowledge about best practices and new technologies. This year the Nova Scotia MELG is focused on the identification of gaps where knowledge sharing can help municipalities reduce their energy use and GHG emissions. They are also developing a Municipal Smart Energy Scorecard to evaluate and compare municipalities community energy planning progress. Meanwhile, in Ontario, the MWG is engaging with key Ministries to advance the implementation of community energy plans and associated projects through provincial policy and programs.

Nova Scotia’s Buildings Working Group is working to advance energy and environmental performance of buildings, while considering integration with other systems such as transportation, land use planning and renewable energy, to create Smart Energy Communities. This year they are focused on developing recommendations on building benchmarking.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Working Groups in Ontario and Alberta host a diverse collaborative of stakeholders from gas, electric and thermal utilities, technology and service providers, government, NGOs, and the MUSH sector working to advance CHP. These Working Groups are moving to enable supportive policies and programs for CHP, promote and engage, and work directly with government to address technical barriers.

Stay tuned for new working groups being announced in the coming months and check out the revamped Caucus and Working Group web pages at: www.questcanada.org/our-network