This spring, the Pembina Institute is hosting the fourth Renewables in Remote Communities conference – a unique gathering focused on the clean energy transition taking shape in remote communities across the country. Ahead of this important gathering, Lynne Couves, director of the Pembina Institute’s Renewables in Remote Communities program, answers a few questions about remote energy systems and what they represent in Canada’s evolving economic, social, and environmental landscape:
In Canada, there are considerable differences between the way remote communities access electricity and heating compared to urban centers. What do Canadians need to know about these differences?
Canada is home to more than 240 remote communities, scattered across nearly every province and territory in the country. The reason these communities are called “remote” is because, in contrast to the rest of Canada, these communities (and the three northern territories) must produce all their electricity and heat independently from the rest of North America.
Since remote communities are isolated from provincial electricity systems, they get their power from isolated microgrids. These microgrids are often powered by diesel fuel that is transported to the community by plane, truck, or barge.
This system comes with very high costs for consumers and governments and creates a system of diesel reliance that impacts every aspect of community life from public health to the local economy. In terms of economic cost alone, our research shows that remote communities pay six to ten times more for energy than the rest of Canada – and that’s with the hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies that federal, provincial, and territorial governments spend to bring down the costs of diesel every year. Without subsidies, remote communities would pay an average of 10-30 times more for energy (depending on location, among other factors).
How do energy systems in remote communities relate to Indigenous rights?
Of the roughly 240 diesel-dependent remote communities in Canada, about 170 are Indigenous. This has a number of implications for the way Canadian governments approach and address both remote clean energy development and diesel reduction.
Most energy systems in remote communities were developed without local input and collaboration. This approach to development has undermined Indigenous rights to self-determination (meaning, the rights of communities and their inhabitants to make their own choices about what is best for themselves and their communities) and social and economic development. The result has been a costly and unhealthy system of diesel reliance that – In addition to being both very expensive and insecure - stands counter to many Indigenous worldviews and approaches to energy, community development, and environmental stewardship.
What can Canada as a whole learn about remote communities’ experience with energy development and the transition to cleaner alternatives?
Canada is suddenly alive to the issue of energy security due to the trade war with the United States. Within this context, it has become abundantly clear that the answer to building strong, resilient, healthy economies is powering them with locally-produced, low-cost clean energy: this is what many remote communities and Indigenous clean energy advocates have understood for decades.
The transition to clean energy in remote communities is a natural response to the closely linked relationship between energy and sovereignty. Because many remote energy systems are powered almost exclusively by imported diesel fuel, communities are often exposed to fuel price volatility that is triggered by external forces outside of their control, this includes disruptions to fuel supply chains caused by changing weather patterns due to climate change. This volatility demonstrates how important it is to develop systems that are resilient and reliable.
Beyond this, the energy transition has exposed policymakers to the social and political realities of energy development in remote communities. These realities are interweaved with the need to prioritize Indigenous governance, collaboration, and consent as part of energy development and policy reform processes. For many jurisdictions, a complex web of technical, regulatory, economic, and policy related barriers make the work of creating more resilient and diversified energy systems exceptionally more challenging. These complexities tell an important story about the history of energy development and reinforce the role of sovereignty in facilitating strong economic, energy, and social development.
Is change possible in diesel-dependent remote communities?
Change is possible, but has historically proven very difficult to achieve – our work within the Pembina Institute’s Renewables in Remote Communities program is about doing all we can to improve this.
In remote regions across Canada, communities, government, and the private sector have worked collaboratively to initiate and drive change. The results of this work are encouraging, from 2015-2020, renewable energy projects in remote communities nearly doubled, with solar capacity increasing an astounding 11 times. Altogether, this has led to a reduction of over 12 million litres of diesel use per year. This type of progress shows that change is not only possible, but it is also happening in communities across Canada.
Though these findings are encouraging, many regulatory, policy, and technical barriers remain and pose a real threat to continued gains in diesel reduction. Today, with increasing economic instability, intensifying climate disasters, and changing labour conditions, it is becoming ever more challenging for communities to begin their clean energy journey. For progress to continue at the pace and scale required to meet community, climate and energy goals, a lot has to change – and fast.
What are Pembina’s recommendations to governments, regulators, system operators to remove some of those barriers to progress?
Governments, regulators, and utilities play a central role in supporting the remote transition to clean energy. While there are a great number of changes needed to concretely support the remote transition to clean energy, we focus our attention on a few key issues that continue to stand in the way of accelerated progress at scale. These include legal, regulatory, and funding related recommendations:
- We strongly recommend that governments at every level work to implement the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into energy legislation and regulation so that Indigenous rights to self-determination and social and economic development are fully reflected in regulatory processes and legislative decisions.
- To fully transition to clean energy, considerably more Indigenous-led and -owned renewable energy projects must be developed. This will require strengthened policy frameworks and pricing structures that account for the environmental, social, and cultural benefits that Indigenous-led energy projects bring. Given this reality, we recommend that governments, regulators, and utilities prioritise the development and implementation of policies and programs that support Indigenous governance of clean energy projects with fair and equitable rates.
- Finally, we encourage governments to adequately fund and strengthen programs for capacity building and project development. While there currently exist a number of federal and provincial programs that provide funding, support, and training to remote clean energy leaders, these programs are consistently underfunded and oversubscribed. Urgent funding adjustments are needed to fully support this work, with unique considerations for communities in the territories.
These are just a few of many needed actions that can support Indigenous-led diesel reduction and clean energy development. Governments, utilities, and regulators must take collaborative action to support communities as they continue the work of energy transformation.
To learn more about the work we do to support remote communities, visit: https://www.pembina.org/programs/remote-communities
