On October 18, CPA President Shannon Watt and CPA’s Atlantic Committee Chair Royden Boudreau appeared before the Senate Transportation and Communications Committee. 

Watt and Boudreau provided comment on the impact of the propane supply chains as it pertains to the Isthmus of Chignecto should that vital transportation corridor connecting New Brunswick and Nova Scotia be damaged by weather events and climate change. 

New Brunswick Senator Jim Quin presently has a bill before the Senate that designates the isthmus as federal responsibility and would require the federal government to finance the building of any infrastructure that would be required to ensure that access through the corridor is maintained. Nova Scotia and by extension, Newfoundland and Labrador, rely on the corridor for the transportation of goods from the rest of Canada. 

For the CPA, supplying affordable, reliable, and clean energy will continue to be the goal of Canada’s propane industry, whether that’s in Atlantic Canada, across the country or to countries around the globe. The CPA is also looking at ways to further decarbonize propane so that the industry can provide clean energy now and in the future. 

Regarding the issue of supply chains and the Isthmus of Chignecto, Watt noted, “The corridor between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, along the Isthmus of Chignecto is of fundamental importance to our industry. Any disruption caused to the corridor along the Isthmus of Chignecto, whether by climate change or anything else, would have an extremely negative impact on the propane supply chain, including thousands of propane customers in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.” 

Boudreau noted that, “The reason transportation is becoming more critical for the propane industry is that propane production has been halted in Nova Scotia because the Sable Offshore Energy Project was shut down in January 2019. Prior to that, propane was being produced and used throughout the Maritimes. The Come By Chance refinery shut down halted production of propane in the province of Newfoundland. We’ve really become exclusively dependent on trucking and rail to supply customers across the region.” 

The Canadian Propane Association is filing a submission to the federal government regarding the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) released on August 10. The government maintains that the draft regulations are a significant step towards delivering on its commitment to a net-zero electricity grid by 2035 and meeting its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.  

In its submission, the CPA will articulate the propane advantage as part of a measured decarbonization strategy as well as the propane industry’s concerns regarding the regulations. 

The CPA submission focuses on: 

• The advantages and opportunities the expanded use of propane can provide as the sector looks to reduce emissions, in alignment with the 2050 net zero goals.  
• The risk of leaving behind Canadians who live in rural and remote communities if decarbonization is rushed and all low-emission options are not included in decarbonization efforts. 
• Concerns that the hasty push to electrify will put rural jobs at risk. 
• Redraft the labour requirements to include incentives for compliance, rather than a 10% penalty for non-compliance, as currently written in the draft regulations. 
• Applying criminal penalties to the CER is unnecessary and combative and should not be considered. 

The CPA continues to identify key challenges for the propane sector as it relates to rail and the transportation of propane, particularly during the winter months. The CPA meets regularly with Class 1 carriers to identify issues and potential solutions to alleviate concerns about the effectiveness of the rail system as part of their 2023-2024 winter plans. The CPA is also collaborating with other commodities and Transport Canada with the goal of creating a resilient rail system, through the CPA Rail Task Group. If you are interested in joining the task group, please contact VP Government Relations, West, Katie Kachur at katiekachur@propane.ca. 

The BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation has released a protocol for determining the carbon intensity and volume of the renewable/low carbon portion of co-processed fuel. Co-processing is when low-carbon and/or renewable feedstocks are used in combination with petroleum feedstocks during the refining process to produce blended fossil and low–carbon fuel products. The ministry is accepting feedback on the protocol. Please see the Protocols section of the LCFS website for further information. For any questions, please contact the Low Carbon Fuels Branch at lcfs@gov.bc.ca.

According to Statistics Canada, summer drought and extreme temperatures reduced electricity production in British Columbia. last July to its lowest point of any July in at least 15 years. To offset the decline in production, B.C. imported 2.1 million MWh of electricity from other provinces and the U.S. last July, nearly double the previous 15-year record set in 2019. (One megawatt-hour of electricity would power roughly two fridges per year.) The CPA has been encouraging the Government of BC to assess how to better integrate a diverse mix of energy sources into the grid, including propane. The CPA and BC Committee will continue to focus on this conversation as part of the advocacy approach. 

The Alberta government has announced a new funding opportunity for scale-up, pilot and first-of-kind emissions-reduction projects. The Emerging Innovators Challenge is open to small enterprises (organizations with fewer than 50 employees), medium enterprises (organizations with fewer than 500 employees) and Indigenous communities and organizations of any size. Up to $5 million is available per project, with a minimum request of $250,000. Applications can originate from anywhere around the world but must be piloted, demonstrated or deployed in Alberta. The application deadline is Dec. 14. For more information and how to apply please visit: EMERGING INNOVATORS CHALLENGE – Emissions Reduction Alberta (eralberta.ca). 

On September 28, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) hosted a news conference to explain its perspective on the federal government’s draft Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), including Alberta’s unique challenges related to decarbonization and reliability and affordability considerations. The AESO manages and operates the provincial power grid as a not-for-profit organization with no financial investment in the industry.  

They focused on several key messages: 

• Among all provinces, Alberta faces the greatest challenge to decarbonize its electricity system since its starting point has the highest emissions.  
• Alberta has achieved significant emissions reduction to date. In 2005, Alberta’s electricity sector emissions were 49.8 Mt and by 2021 the province’s electricity system emissions had dropped to 27.7 Mt, a 44% reduction. As the remaining coal-fired generation retires through the first quarter of 2024 and more efficient natural gas generation displaces it, further electricity sector emissions reductions are expected.  
• Uncertainty with developing decarbonization technologies (carbon capture, hydrogen, storage, small modular nuclear) means Alberta is at greater reliability and affordability risk if cost and performance do not materialize as currently anticipated.  
• Current decarbonization paths with solar and wind lack the storage and reliability attributes required to unlock high penetrations without sacrificing reliability.  
• Regardless of how much intermittent wind and solar capacity Alberta has, the provincial grid will need sufficient dispatchable generation to meet cold, dark, windless winter peak-load conditions—otherwise Alberta is at risk of large-scale blackouts, putting lives at risk and economic output in jeopardy. 

For more information on the briefing please visit AESO Media Briefing on Proposed Federal Clean Electricity Regulations (Media Materials) » AESO. 

The CPA will be providing feedback to the federal government on the Clean Electricity Regulations. For further information, please contact Allan Murphy (allanmurphy@propane.ca). 

This past month, the CPA continued its advocacy work in the Province of Ontario to educate Members of Provincial Parliament about the propane industry and advocate for an off-oil program for rural Ontario. Work includes meetings with political staff from Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs office as well as MPPs from Essex, Oxford and Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound.  

 Also, in September the Ontario Committee met in Belleville to hear updates from the CPA on provincial, federal and regulatory issues.