Record of Decision

Energy Sector Sustainability Table Meeting

August 27th-28th, 2008
Calgary, Alberta

Co-chairs:

Ian Shugart
Gerard Protti

Members:

Pierre Alvarez
Peter Boag
Michael Cleland
Jim Ellis
Murray Elston
Pierre Guimond
David Keith
Brenda Kenny
William Lahey
Liz Logan
Ken Ogilvie
Marlo Raynolds
Vicky Sharpe

Observers:

Suzan Bowser
Sue Kirby (for Cassie Doyle)
Pierre Marin (for Louis Ranger)
Stacey Schorr

Facilitators:

Bill Lebedovich
Martin Gough

Presenters:

Carl Sonnen
David McLaughlin

Secretariat:

Tabatha Soltay
Linda Webster

Absent:

Cassie Doyle
Joe Gargiso
Robert Hornung
Suzanne Leblanc
Louis Ranger
Allison Scott
Nashina Shariff
Peter Wallace

ESST Administration

• Ian Shugart was welcomed as the new Co-chair. Pierre Guimond, Brenda Kenny, Jim Ellis and David Keith were all welcomed as new Table members.
• Sue Kirby and Pierre Marin were also welcomed, sitting in for Cassie Doyle and Louis Ranger.
• Pierre Alvarez, who will be leaving CAPP, was thanked for his contribution to the Table. Peter Wallace will be leaving the Ministry of Energy on September 15^th and the new DM of Energy and Infrastructure will be invited to the Table.
• The Record of Decisions for the March 26^th-27^th, 2008 ESST meeting were approved without changes.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. Secretariat to post Record of Decision on the website; and
2. Secretariat to follow up with possible new members (CAPP / Ontario).

QUEST:

• Mike Cleland and Ken Ogilvie presented QUEST (Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow) over dinner.
• There was general support among members for the concepts presented. Discussion centred on the barriers to QUEST and the role of the Table in helping QUEST overcome these barriers. The Table is seen as a good incubator for ideas and action.
• Suggested roles for the Table on QUEST include synthesising current information to help better articulate the benefits and to create a compelling vision for the future.
• It was agreed that QUEST would be part of the discussions on the 28^th, in both the Long Term Clean Air agenda item and the Blue Sky agenda item.

Update on Government Agenda:

• Ian Shugart proposed that in the future this item should be “sector update”, maintaining the Government update but adding a component to ensure that other Table members have an opportunity to update members on key developments in the sector. This would not be a roundtable update, specific members will be asked for updates prior to the meeting.
• Government of Canada representatives presented an update on the regulatory agenda and the work moving forward on this issue, including the Regulatory Framework; work on the transportation sector; fuel consumption and energy efficiency; and Carbon Capture and Storage.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. Secretariat to work with Co-chairs to identify a sector update subject to be discussed by a Table member at the next meeting.

Release Strategies and Progress:

• Sue Kirby updated members on the release of the Energy Sector Scans, and the Energy Efficiency work.
• Members enquired if / when a process would be discussed to ensure that the Scan’s are updated on a regular basis. It was pointed out that this is likely to be a major project as the scope and information available might be different.
• A hotlink from Member’s organisation’s websites and from the Center for Energy Information was suggested.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. The Secretariat will explore the most effective way of making documents available to Table members (as they are too large to e-mail);
2. Table members will forward names of stakeholders who should receive the releases;
3. Secretariat will notify Table members when the releases occur so that they can forward to their stakeholders as appropriate;
4. Secretariat to follow-up with appropriate contacts within Member’s organisations and the Centre for Energy Information to ensure hotlinks to the documents once they are released;
5. Once the documents are available on-line, Table members are encouraged to use them and share them in presentations, agendas and discussions. Table members are asked to let the Secretariat know of their plans to ensure outreach tracking and support; and
6. Scans will be updated every three years.

Long Term Clean Air Issues:

• Carl Sonnen presented his work on Phase 1 mapping out the reference case based on what the world would look like in 2050 if there were no new policies or initiatives.
• Representatives from the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy presented, by phone, a short overview of the work they are currently engaged in.
• The Round Table will be moving forward with a Technology Roadmap and the Energy Sector Sustainability Table will balance out the Round Table’s work by exploring areas not addressed in the Technology Roadmap, including injecting some understanding on the range of options to address the longer term issues.
• Discussion focused on the assumptions underlying Carl’s projections to 2050 and the price of oil in the future and the sequencing of what needs to happen in five, ten and fifteen years.
• It was noted that Canada is not an island that can develop independently of issues outside our borders; focus should be on both areas that are intrinsic to Canada as well as in issues where Canada is a policy “leader” and a policy “taker”.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. The next Phase for the Long Term Clean Air work should build a few alternative scenarios based on 3-5 key policy drivers, exploring the assumptions and tipping points that will drive change. These will be parallel paths that will focus on sequencing and options as well as barriers. Work will be brought to the next Table meeting to be developed and ground-truthed;
2. The Secretariat will remain in communication with the Roundtable to ensure that the work moves forward in a complementary path; and
3. The Round Table will present their key findings and proposed policy package to the Table, for groundtruthing.

Future Direction of the ESST:

• The facilitators ran the full Table through a brain storming session with two report backs to full plenary.
• Key areas that were identified for future work include; the development of a Public Data System, the development of a Big Picture Scenario, the development of several parallel Scenarios, a sustainability evaluation of technology, and a process to ensure effective energy sector communication.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. Key ideas and themes from this section will be written up into one-page project plans by the Secretariat. These will be circulated for comments prior to the next meeting and then finalised as full action plans at the November meeting.

Upcoming Meetings:

• The next ESST meeting is scheduled for November 17^th and 18^th, 2008, in the National Capital Region. Format to be working dinner on the 17^th, followed by a full day meeting on the 18^th.
• Suggested items for the next ESST agenda include:

• Long Term Clean Air, next Phase;

• “Blue-sky” project plans based on discussion from ESST at the August 2008 meeting and possible work plan development;

• The survey work carried out by MPA candidate Lauren Sweeney on the effectiveness of the collaborative processes currently undertaken by Environment Canada (Table members were interested in learning more about the work undertaken by Lauren and her key findings); and

• A possible meeting with Minister(s).