441-02435 (Environment)

Petition to increase the level of carbon pricing under the Greenhouse Gas and Pollution Pricing Act of methane-fired electricity generation to a level that will send a sufficient market signal to incentivise a transition away from methane-fired electricity generation to low carbon energy sources.

Whereas:

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's most recent AR6 Synthesis report for its sixth cycle (AR6) was unequivocal - no new fossil fuel infrastructure is to be built and all developed countries must reach net-zero electricity generation by 2035;

• What some people call natural gas is, in reality, a fossil fuel. It is methane - a very potent greenhouse gas (GHG);

• The Canadian Energy Regulator's Canada Energy Futures 2021 reports that approximately 8,900 megawatts of new methane-fired generating capacity is projected to be added by 2035 under current federal, provincial and territorial policies;

• In Ontario, methane-fired generation is set to account for 25% of the province's electricity generation by the late 2040s, more than triple its current role;

• The Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA) establishes the framework for the federal carbon pollution pricing backstop system, which consists of two main components: a regulatory charge on fossil fuels (Fuel Charge); and, a regulatory trading system for industry, known as the Output-Based Pricing System (OBPS);

• Methane-fired generation of electricity is subject to the OBPS component of the GGPPA;

• The increase in projected methane-fired electricity generation in Canada (particularly in Ontario) indicates that the current level of carbon pricing of methane-fired generation does not send a sufficient market signal to incentivize a transition away from fossil fuels to low carbon energy sources;

• There is a real risk of methane-fired electricity generation facilities becoming stranded assets, with the associated costs being passed onto the taxpayer and ratepayer; and

• The proposed Clean Electricity Regulations process is too slow to address this grave problem.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to Increase the level of carbon pricing under the GGPPA of methane-fired electricity generation to a level that will send a sufficient market signal to incentivise a transition away from methane-fired electricity generation to low carbon energy sources by:

• making methane-fired electricity generation subject to the Fuel Charge component of the GGPPA; or

• if methane-fired generation remains in the OBPS component of the GGPPA, making it subject to increased carbon pricing.