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Bill 172, Affordable Energy Act, 2024

Tabuns, Peter

Begum, Doly

Bell, Jessica

Pasma, Chandra

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Bill 172 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill enacts the Affordable Energy Act, 2024 .

The

Premier of Ontario is required to prepare and implement a plan entitled

Ontario’s Community Energy Affordability Plan. The Plan must set out measures

to be taken by the government to achieve specified goals, including the

following:

1. The

goal of electricity customers in homes and public buildings having the right to

use and benefit from distributed energy resources and to have access to

distributed energy resources.

2. The

goal of deep retrofitting being implemented for all buildings in Ontario.

Affordable

Energy Ontario is established as an agency. Its objects relate to the

development, oversight, financing, facilitation and delivery of specified

programs. These programs include the following:

1. Programs

that provide Ontarians with opportunities to benefit from distributed energy

resources and to subscribe to or invest in offsite renewable energy generation and

storage facilities owned by community energy organizations.

2. Programs

for deep retrofitting of buildings.

Bill 172 2024

Act to improve energy affordability through distributed energy resources and

deep retrofits

CONTENTS

Preamble

Definitions and Purpose

Definitions

Purposes

of Act

Ontario’s Community Energy

Affordability Plan

Plan

Contents

Review

of Plan

Affordable Energy Ontario

Agency

Powers

Money

appropriated by the Legislature

Objects

of Agency

Affairs

of Agency

Regulations

Regulations,

general

Regulations

re Agency

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

Short

title

Preamble

Electricity and gas have become unaffordable for many

Ontarians, especially those with low or fixed incomes. Ontario’s current

government has responded by providing subsidies and increasing the use of

natural gas for heating and power generation.

The

two most effective ways to stabilize energy bills and make energy affordable are

increasing the use of distributed energy resources and supporting deep, full

building, retrofits.

Distributed

energy resources are resources that generate energy, store energy or control

load. They may be connected to the electricity distribution system directly or

indirectly, behind a customer’s meter. An example of distributed energy

resources is roof top solar photovoltaic units. The cost of distributed energy

resources is dropping every year, and this trend is expected to continue.

Meanwhile, the cost of conventional resources such as natural gas will continue

to be volatile.

Energy

efficiency measures, especially deep retrofits, have always been the best way

of reducing energy bills. Deep retrofits involve extensive overhaul of building

systems that can substantially reduce energy costs. By decreasing building

heating and cooling loads, such retrofits also reduce the impact of

electrification on energy bills and the grid, ensuring that the full benefits

of distributed energy resources are realised.

Reducing

energy demand from greenhouse gas emitting sources, such as gas-fired power

plants and gas-fired heating, allows for buildings to contribute to climate

stabilization.

Buildings

with their own power supply, or access to local power supplies, and reduced

energy needs will be resilient to power outages that will be more frequent in a

world with more extreme weather events.

To increase equity in energy supply and demand, it is necessary

for the government to accelerate the deep retrofitting of homes and buildings

and to empower all Ontarians to benefit from the deployment of distributed energy

resources .

Therefore,

His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of

the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions and Purpose

Definitions

1 In this Act,

“Agency”

means the corporation established under

section 6; (“Agence”)

“community

energy organizations” include co-operatives within the meaning of the Co-operative Corporations Act and eligible public

organizations within the meaning of the Ontario

Infrastructure and Lands Corporation Act, 2011 ; (“organismes d’énergie

communautaire”)

“distributed

energy resources” means resources that generate energy, store energy or control

load and that are connected directly to a local distribution system or to a

host load facility within a local distribution system; (“ressources

énergétiques distribuées”)

“Plan”

means the Plan developed and prepared under

section 3. (“Plan”)

Purposes

of Act

2 The purposes of this Act are,

(

a) to

implement measures that provide more stable and affordable energy costs for all

Ontarians;

(

b) to encourage the deployment of distributed energy resources

and to empower Ontarians and facilitate their efforts to collectively

participate in and benefit from the use of these resources;

(

c) to

reduce the cost of and accelerate deep retrofitting of Ontario’s homes and other

buildings;

(

d) to

increase the resiliency of homes and other buildings in the face of weather-caused

power disruptions;

(

e) to

reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from our electricity and heating systems;

and

(

f) to

ensure that the purposes mentioned in clauses (

a) to (

e) are achieved in a

manner that supports job creation, economic development and the provision of

unionized employment.

Ontario’s Community Energy Affordability Plan

Plan

(1) The Premier of Ontario shall prepare and

implement a plan entitled Ontario’s Community Energy Affordability Plan in

in French.

Public

consultation

(2) The

Premier shall ensure that public consultation is conducted in respect of the

Plan before finalizing the Plan.

Publication

(3) No

later than 12 months following the day this

section comes into force, the

Premier shall ensure that the Plan is published on a website of the Government

of Ontario.

Implementation

(4) The

Premier shall ensure that the Plan is implemented in accordance with the

timeline set out in the Plan.

Contents

(1) The Plan shall set out the following:

1. Measures

to be taken by the government to achieve the following goals:

i. Electricity

customers in homes and public buildings in Ontario have the right to use and

benefit from distributed energy resources and have access to distributed energy

resources, including but not limited to the following:

A. They

have the ability to generate and store their own electricity generated from

renewable sources through net metering, available not only to home owners but

also to residents of housing co-operatives and tenants in multi-residential

buildings who sub-meter.

B. They

have the collective benefit, with other customers in their local community, of

the generation and supply of their excess electricity generated from renewable

sources through community net metering.

C. They

have the opportunity to subscribe to or invest in offsite renewable energy generation

and storage facilities owned by community energy organizations.

D. They

have deductions from their electricity bills for electricity generated from

offsite renewable energy generation and storage facilities that they own,

lease, subscribe to or rent.

ii. Deep

retrofitting is implemented for all buildings in Ontario, with a goal of achieving

net zero emissions from Ontario’s buildings.

iii. Residential

tenants are empowered to reduce energy costs as follows:

A. They

have the right to make prescribed minor changes to their homes to reduce energy

costs.

B. They

have the right to maintain residence and tenure after any retrofit is undertaken

by the landlord.

2. A

description of the proposed legislative and regulatory amendments that are necessary

in order to achieve the goals set out in paragraph 1.

3. A

detailed plan explaining how and when the Plan will be implemented.

Community

net metering

(2) For

the purposes of sub-subparagraph 1 i B of subsection (1),

“community

net metering” means a system in which excess electricity generated on site may

be sent to the grid for a credit which can be shared by multiple participating

residents.

Review

of Plan

(1) The Premier shall cause a review of the Plan

to be undertaken no later than the second anniversary of the publication of the

Plan and every second anniversary thereafter.

Public

consultation

(2) The

Premier shall ensure that public consultation is conducted as part of reviewing

the Plan.

Same

(3) As

part of a review of the Plan, the Premier shall amend the Plan, as the Premier

considers advisable, and shall ensure that the amended Plan is published on a

website of the Government of Ontario.

Affordable Energy Ontario

Agency

Energy Ontario and in French as Énergie abordable Ontario is established as a

corporation without share capital.

Constitution

(2) The

constitution of the Agency and its board of directors shall be in accordance

with the regulations.

Agent

of the Crown

(3) Subject

to the regulations, the Agency is, for all its purposes, an agent of the Crown

and its powers may be exercised only as an agent of the Crown.

Employees

(4) The

Agency may employ or otherwise engage persons for the proper conduct of its

activities, subject to the regulations or, if the regulations so provide,

employees may be appointed under

Part III of the Public

Service of Ontario Act, 2006 .

Application

of corporate Acts

(5) The

Corporations Act , the Corporations

Information Act and the Not-for-Profit Corporations

Act, 2010 do not apply to the Agency, except as provided by the

regulations.

Powers

Natural

person powers

(1) The Agency shall have the capacity, rights,

powers and privileges of a natural person for the purpose of carrying out its

objects, except as limited by this Act or the regulations.

Financial

activities

(2) The

Agency shall not borrow money, invest funds or manage financial risks except in

accordance with a by-law of the Agency that has been approved by the Minister

of Finance.

Subsidiary

corporation

(3) The

Agency shall not establish a subsidiary corporation, except as permitted by the

regulations.

Commercial

activity

(4) The

Agency shall not engage in commercial activity through an individual,

corporation or other entity that is related to the Agency, to a member of its

board of directors or to any of its officers, except as permitted by the

regulations.

Money

appropriated by the Legislature

8 The money required for the purposes of the Agency shall be

paid out of the money appropriated for this purpose by the Legislature.

Objects

of Agency

(1) The Agency’s objects are,

(

a) to

develop, oversee, finance, facilitate and deliver programs that provide

Ontarians with opportunities to benefit from distributed energy resources and to

subscribe to or invest in offsite renewable energy generation and storage

facilities owned by community energy organizations;

(

b) to

develop, oversee, finance, facilitate and deliver programs for deep

retrofitting of all buildings in Ontario; and

(

c) to

perform the duties and exercise the powers assigned to the Agency by this Act

and the regulations.

Same,

distributed energy resources

(2) The

programs mentioned in clause (1) (

a) shall be developed, financed and delivered

in accordance with the following principles:

1. Renewable

energy generation and storage facilities should be owned by community energy

organizations.

2. All

Ontarians should be able to participate, with priority given to low and middle

income residents.

3. Capacity

building support should be provided to community energy organizations,

municipalities and their local distribution utilities to deliver distributed

energy resources and develop renewable energy generation and storage projects.

Same,

deep retrofitting

(3) The

programs mentioned in clause (1) (

b) shall be developed, overseen, financed and

facilitated in accordance with the following principles:

1. Modular

technologies and business models that would accelerate and reduce the cost of

seamless deep retrofitting should be applied.

2. Social

housing and low-income rental housing should be prioritized.

Unionized

workers

(4) In

carrying out its objects, the Agency shall, in accordance with the regulations,

ensure that unionized workers are hired to carry out necessary work where a

project is financed or facilitated by the Agency.

Use

of revenues

(5) The

Agency shall apply its revenues to carry out its objects and duties and for no

other purpose.

Affairs

of Agency

(1) Subject to the regulations, the board of

directors of the Agency shall manage or supervise the management of the

activities and affairs of the Agency.

By-laws

and resolutions

(2) The

board of directors may make by-laws and pass resolutions regulating its

proceedings and generally for the conduct and management of the affairs of the

Agency.

By-laws

available to public

(3) The

board of directors shall make its by-laws available to the public in the manner

it considers appropriate.

Officers

(4) Without

limiting the generality of subsection (2), the board of directors may make

by-laws or pass resolutions to appoint officers and assign to them such powers

and duties as the board considers appropriate.

Regulations

Regulations,

general

11 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(

a) respecting

anything that, under this Act, may or must be prescribed, done or provided for

by regulation;

(

b) defining

words and expressions used in this Act that are not otherwise defined in this Act;

(

c) providing

for such other matters as the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers

advisable to carry out the purpose of this Act.

Regulations

re Agency

12 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations

governing the Agency, including,

(

a) providing

for the governance and management of the Agency, including providing for a

chief executive officer;

(

b) respecting

the composition of the board of directors;

(

c) respecting

stakeholder participation in the affairs of the Agency;

(

d) respecting

the Agency’s role as agent of the Crown, providing for circumstances in which

the Agency may act outside of its role as agent of the Crown and limiting its

powers as agent of the Crown;

(

e) respecting

the Agency’s ability to hire or employ persons or providing that employees may

be appointed under

Part III of the Public Service of

Ontario Act, 2006 ;

(

f) respecting

the capacity, rights, powers and privileges of the Agency and any restrictions

on them;

(

g) prescribing

additional duties and powers of the Agency;

(

h) respecting

the Agency’s authority to establish, acquire, wind up, dispose of or otherwise deal

with, in whole or in part, a subsidiary and any restrictions on that authority;

(

i) respecting

the Agency’s authority to engage in commercial activities, including activities

with persons or entities that are related to the Agency, a member of its board

of directors or to any of its officers;

(

j) respecting

the Agency’s auditors, their appointment and their duties.

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

13 This Act comes into force six months after the day it

receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

14 The

short title of this Act is the Affordable

Energy Act, 2024 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

April 15, 2024

Second Reading

Vote

Lost on division

April 11, 2024

Second Reading

Question put

Vote deferred

April 11, 2024

Second Reading

Debated

March 7, 2024

First Reading

Ordered for Second Reading

March 7, 2024

First Reading

Vote

Carried

First Reading

March 7, 2024

Carried

Ordered for Second Reading

Second Reading

April 11, 2024

Bell, Jessica

University—Rosedale

Cuzzetto, Rudy

Mississauga—Lakeshore

Hsu, Ted

Kingston and the Islands

Sattler, Peggy

London West

Shaw, Sandy

Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas

Tabuns, Peter

Toronto—Danforth

Question put

April 15, 2024

Lost on division

Vote on second reading - Lost (April 15, 2024)

Ayes

(34) Jill Andrew

Teresa J. Armstrong

Jessica Bell

Guy Bourgouin

Stephanie Bowman

Bobbi Ann Brady

Jeff Burch

Aislinn Clancy

Catherine Fife

John Fraser

Jennifer K. French

Wayne Gates

Lisa Gretzky

Joel Harden

Andrea Hazell

Ted Hsu

Bhutila Karpoche

Terence Kernaghan

Sol Mamakwa

Michael Mantha

Karen McCrimmon

Mary-Margaret McMahon

Chandra Pasma

Tom Rakocevic

Peggy Sattler

Mike Schreiner

Adil Shamji

Sandy Shaw

Marit Stiles

Peter Tabuns

John Vanthof

Lise Vaugeois

Jamie West

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Nays

(69) Deepak Anand

Aris Babikian

Patrice Barnes

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy

Will Bouma

Ric Bresee

Rick Byers

Hon. Paul Calandra

Hon. Raymond Sung Joon Cho

Hon. Stan Cho

Hon. Steve Clark

Lorne Coe

Rudy Cuzzetto

Jess Dixon

Andrew Dowie

Hon. Doug Downey

Hon. Jill Dunlop

Hon. Victor Fedeli

Hon. Rob Flack

Michael D. Ford

Goldie Ghamari

Hon. Ernie Hardeman

Hon. Mike Harris

Christine Hogarth

Hon. Kevin Holland

Hon. Trevor Jones

John Jordan

Logan Kanapathi

Vincent Ke

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Hon. Andrea Khanjin

Hon. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta

Anthony Leardi

Hon. Stephen Lecce

Hon. Neil Lumsden

Lisa MacLeod

Robin Martin

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy

Hon. Graham McGregor

Hon. Caroline Mulroney

Hon. Sam Oosterhoff

Billy Pang

Hon. Michael Parsa

Hon. David Piccini

Natalie Pierre

Hon. George Pirie

Hon. Nolan Quinn

Matthew Rae

Brian Riddell

Sheref Sabawy

Amarjot Sandhu

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria

Stéphane Sarrazin

Brian Saunderson

Hon. Laurie Scott

Hon. Donna Skelly

Dave Smith

David Smith

Hon. Graydon Smith

Laura Smith

Todd Smith

Hon. Kinga Surma

Hon. Nina Tangri

Hon. Vijay Thanigasalam

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo

Daisy Wai

Hon. Charmaine A. Williams

John Yakabuski

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