For Nova Scotians, clear vitality has been within the information quite a bit currently.
The province just lately unveiled its plan for 50 per cent wind energy by 2030 alongside extra photo voltaic. Per week later, the federal authorities introduced $12 million to assist Nova Scotia with electrical energy grid upgrades. Over that very same timeframe, the Atlantic Loop was seemingly deserted after which resurrected and modified.
In the meantime, a brand new report discovered that an East Coast offshore wind trade — widespread in Europe and Asia however nonetheless nascent in North America — might flip Atlantic Canada into an “vitality superpower” just like “what oil was to Texas or hydro energy to Quebec.”
That’s quite a bit to absorb over the course of 1 month, and it naturally raises questions for Nova Scotians questioning what this outright transformation of their vitality system won’t solely seem like however the way it will have an effect on them personally, particularly at a time when each greenback counts.
Whereas the transition to scrub vitality will hardly upend your way of life — clear electrical energy continues to be electrical energy, an electrical car continues to be only a automotive, and a extra vitality environment friendly home continues to be a spot to name house — the way in which during which you pay for vitality will change. Understanding this modification is vital to understanding the affordability advantages of unpolluted vitality.
Renewables are extraordinarily cost-competitive (wind is already extensively thought-about the lowest-cost supply of electrical energy in Nova Scotia) however we’re going to wish much more energy as we transition our houses, automobiles and companies off fossil fuels.
There’s a value to constructing new electrical energy technology to satisfy this demand, however the financial savings shall be higher. Consider it this fashion: including $40 to your month-to-month electrical energy invoice to energy your automotive is cheaper than no matter you have been paying to fill it with gasoline.
Canadian and worldwide research have proven that the transition to scrub vitality will make vitality extra reasonably priced for households. New analysis from Clear Power Canada, in the meantime, discovered that households that select clear vitality options (like EVs and warmth pumps) over much less environment friendly ones (like gasoline automobiles, pure gasoline heating and air con) considerably decrease their vitality prices.
We just lately ran this evaluation for Nova Scotia, the place a suburban household that ditches fossil fuels solely in favour of unpolluted vitality options can save $940 a month. Even a household that goes midway — swapping certainly one of two automobiles for an EV and getting a warmth pump however retaining their gasoline furnace as a backup — can pocket an additional $554 every month. Each situations embody tools prices within the month-to-month invoice.
If that sounds too good to be true, take into account the excessive, risky prices of gasoline in comparison with the predictable prices of electrical energy. Take into account how rather more costly gasoline automotive sticker costs have gotten over the previous few years (not to mention gasoline costs), in lots of instances virtually catching up with comparable EVs.
Or take into account the position that governments have performed and may proceed taking part in. The federal authorities supplies $5,000 off the acquisition value of eligible EVs, whereas the Province of Nova Scotia affords drivers an extra $3,000.
The feds even have warmth pump and clear vitality house improve packages, the quantities for which have been elevated final week when the federal government introduced a carbon value pause on oil heating. These packages successfully make warmth pumps free for low-income households in Atlantic Canada switching from oil, and a extremely whole lot for everybody else. Households that swap oil heating for cold-climate warmth pumps usually save as much as $2,500 yearly on their vitality payments.
The speedy transformation of Nova Scotia’s electrical energy system from local weather change-causing coal energy to renewables like wind and photo voltaic could sound drastic, and it’s solely pure to fret in regards to the invoice. However with all of the items in place, the clear vitality transition actually is extra reasonably priced for everybody.
It’s on our elected officers to indicate Nova Scotians and all Canadians the way in which ahead by serving to them make the swap.
This put up is co-authored by Mark Zacharias and initially appeared in Saltwire.
