Introduction – Conservation Progress in 2006

The Government of Ontario has called for the creation of a culture of conservation in the province and set a target of reducing peak electricity demand by 6,300 megawatts by 2025.

In the 2006 Annual Report, the Chief Energy Conservation Officer identified the beginning of a new era of conservation in Ontario and detailed the progress being made toward achieving these goals. It was, however, a mid-year snapshot, as full-year results were not yet available.

This report, a supplement to the 2006 Annual Report, summarizes the results of the 2006 conservation and demand management (conservation) programs and activities of the Chief Energy Conservation Officer, the Ontario Power Authority and local distribution companies.

The report also includes a “bottom-up” analysis of progress by all major players toward meeting the province’s peak-demand reduction target and provides further evidence of a new era of conservation in Ontario. Releasing conservation results in a timely manner provides transparency in the conservation activities being funded by ratepayers.

This supplement also fulfills the Chief Energy Conservation Officer’s duty to report to the government and the citizens of the province on Ontario’s progress toward meeting its conservation goals.

2006 Conservation Highlights

• Ontario’s electricity consumers reduced peak demand by approximately 1,080 megawatts to the end of 2006, including 350 megawatts of naturally occurring conservation. 
• The five Ontario Power Authority-coordinated conservation programs delivered in 2006 resulted in annual savings of 378 million kilowatt-hours and a reduction in the summer peak demand of approximately 110 megawatts. 
• Ontario’s local distribution companies reported achieving substantial electricity savings, including approximately 140 megawatts of peak-demand reduction and lifetime savings of 3.5 billion kilowatt-hours. 
• The Chief Energy Conservation Officer and the Ontario Power Authority made more than 360 million media impressions related to conservation in 2006. 
• Twenty-eight individuals and organizations were recognized in 2006 with Certificates of Recognition for taking a leadership role in building a long-term commitment to electricity conservation. 
• Amendments to the Ontario Building Code, announced in June 2006, increased energy-efficiency requirements and will save Ontario an estimated 550 megawatts of electricity over the next eight years. 
• The Ozone Depleting Substances regulation, passed in 2006, will phase out remaining uses of chlorofluorocarbons in large refrigeration and air conditioning equipment and chillers, which could save between 50 and 175 megawatts of electricity. 
• To the end of 2006, the Ontario Power Authority’s Conservation Fund had provided $2.5 million in funding for 37 action-oriented, sector-specific electricity conservation pilot projects. 
• The Technology Development Fund supported 13 projects in 2006 with a total of more than $736,000 in funding to promote the development and commercialization of technologies or applications that could help to reduce electricity consumption or demand.