energy efficiency, electrification, and decarbon - ization if it wants to achieve a net-zero future. Urgent action is needed to mitigate the effects of climate change. GHG emissions in Nova Scotia are down 30% since 2005, but a challenging path lies ahead if we are to achieve net-zero. Our White Paper 2050: Net-Zero Carbon Nova Scotia, released September 23, 2021, and written in collaboration with Ralph Torrie of Torrie Smith Associates, outlines the challenges and opportu- nities facing the province as it continues to focus on emissions reductions. The White Paper outlines five strategic pathways to help overcome the challenges, and seize on the opportunities, in responding to the climate emergency: energy efficiency and decarboniza - tion; partnerships, collaboration, and training; innovative financing and private investment; equity; and regional capacity building. Energy efficiency, electrification, and decarbon - ization, taken together, are strategic actions that can address 65% of Nova Scotia’s GHG emis- sions. There is no single action that will get us to net- zero, but now is the time for everyone – govern- ment, institutions, industry, organizations, not for profits, and individual citizens – to get to work advancing innovative approaches to decrease GHG emissions and to develop a collaborative model that builds on existing successes. The White Paper also recommends designing and delivering tailored programs that help ensure everyone can equitably benefit from a green, sustainable recovery. To be viable, the path to net-zero needs to work for everybody — and that means including everybody. Any actions taken must – especially with energy-efficiency and “We know that Nova Scotia needs to invest in energy efficiency, electrification, and decarbonization if it wants to achieve a net-zero future.”
electrification programs – include services for low-income homeowners and renters, Mi’kmaw communities, small business, and commercial and industrial business. Spotlight: We know that EfficiencyOne was preparing to file its next three-year Demand Side Management (DSM) Plan with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board. Can you tell us has been proposed in your DSM Plan to achieve higher levels of savings got Nova Scotians and the province on the path to achieve the goals in the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act? JP: We put forward a new 3-year energy reduc- tion plan – or Demand Side Management Plan (Plan) – to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) for approval in March 2022. The Plan would come into effect on January 1, 2023. The Plan will help Nova Scotians lower their elec- tricity bills by reducing their energy use, while helping the province meet its net-zero com- mitments under the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act. Overall, the Plan will lower electricity bills by over $540 million for Nova Scotia’s families and businesses, support 5,300 jobs across the province, and reduce green- house gas emissions by nearly 2 million tonnes. The Plan will deliver more Efficiency Nova Scotia programs to more Nova Scotians, with $35 million to help low-income Nova Scotians, includ- ing renters, live more comfortably in their homes; $7 million to help Mi’kmaw communities reduce electricity costs and improve comfort while sup- porting local job creation; and $20 million to help small businesses on their path to recovery. “There is no single action that will get us to net-zero, but now is the time for everyone – government, institutions, industry, organizations, not for profits, and individual citizens – to get to work”
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MARCH/APRIL 2022 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MARCH/APRIL 2022
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