What do we want and need from our energy utilities?
Given how critical energy is to our modern society, reliability is the key need. In Canada’s harsh winter climate, unreliable heating energy or electricity supply can be life threatening.
While we demand reliable utilities, we also expect our governments to develop an energy plan balancing affordability, flexibility and environmental responsibility.
If cost were the only factor, we would produce our electricity and heating energy with coal as the primary fuel. This, of course, is unacceptable in today’s climate change and local air quality reality.
A final critical need is emerging, resiliency. With the increasing frequency of severe storms and weather patterns, how quickly our utility systems recover from unforeseen outages is a new focus.
So, how does the district energy strategy in Markham address our wants and needs? More importantly, who benefits? Read on to find out more.
