"...we want electrification to be beneficial in terms of efficient, affordable, lower emissions so let’s target helping people get off of more expensive heating oil systems." - Brendan Haley of Efficiency Canada

🎧 Give the full CBC interview a listen: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

#NSPoli #NSPower

The war in the Middle East raised many questions. We've convened Dan Woynillowicz, Patricia Lightburn, @brhaley.bsky.social and @georgeprbenson.bsky.social to grapple with this one: How does Canada navigate the squeeze caused by the Iran energy war? Registration now.
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

New Westminster the first city in Canada to pass a maximum heat bylaw.

Congrats to tenant organizers at @acornunion.bsky.social

acorncanada.org/civicrm/mail...

How to grow the electricity system affordably We will not grow our electricity system affordably if our strategy is narrowly focused on physical infrastructure and risky megaprojects.

In anticipation of a federal electricity strategy, here is how to grow the electricity system affordably for @nationalobserver.com

It starts with saving electricity and making better use of the grid we already built

www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/31/o...

Re-thinking the Canada Greener Homes Loan Program - Efficiency Canada The Greener Homes Loan Program is a success, but new business models could unlock public-private cooperation and lower costs for Canadians.

More importantly, these contracts give a bad name to no up-front cost financing business models that could make big energy savings accessible and easy. A public financing option could ensure fair deals and customer protection www.efficiencycanada.org/re-thinking-...

If you want to switch from gas to an efficient electric water heater you will be forced to buy-out the contract for several thousands of dollars.

These unfair contracts are a barrier to getting an electric water heater.

Water heater rentals! If you live in Ontario, there is a good chance you pay a monthly fee for your water heater. Multiply that monthly fee over the 15+ years of those contracts and the cost is really scary.

When alignment becomes a liability: ENERGY STAR and the case for a made-in-Canada approach to appliance and equipment efficiency - Efficiency Canada A made-in-Canada approach can strengthen appliance and equipment efficiency programs, safeguard consumer savings, and reflect Canada’s climate priorities.

Donald Trump wants to kill the Energy Star program that labels efficient equipment and appliances, like HPWHs.

Time for a made-in-Canada approach to efficiency standards and benchmarks www.efficiencycanada.org/energy-star-...

The federal government abruptly cancelled the Greener Homes Loan program on Oct 1st, even though the Liberals promised to support “fund home retrofits and lower energy bills … to adopt heat pumps and energy efficiency upgrades”.

You could have financed a HPWH at zero-interest.

The federal government could needlessly undermine the Energy Efficiency Act in its proposals on interprovincial trade, under Bill C-5. It doesn’t make any sense because we already have the federal uniform efficiency standard whenever a water heater crosses borders.

electric heat pump water heater Halloween costume A big cylinder with an energy star logo on it.

This Halloween, my costume is an electric heat pump water heater (HPWH).

If you don’t think this is a SCARY costume - here are some scary policy developments related to water heating.

Canada's first 'nation-building' nuclear project relies on US suppliers Canada’s first major “nation-building” investment is going toward a small modular reactor project that depends heavily on US suppliers for key technology and components.

@pgraefe.bsky.social says this is part of a much longer-term pattern where Canada decides to rely on adopting and adapting American technology rather than becoming technological innovators on their own.”

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/23/n...

Bruce Doern writing in 1983 on "mega-project" industrial policy in Canada

"The Liberals also succumbed (certainly not for the first time) to the perceived need to produce policies for show"

"an almost unthinking 'resources first', 'let's cash in on the mega-projects approach'"

#cdnpoli #elbowsup

I'm writing something on why Canada develops megaprojects instead of innovation systems

In 1957 staple theorist WT Easterbrook wrote Canada puts "a high premium on bigness in entrepreneurship" - that our capitalists seek security in gov't infrastructure projects.

#cdnhist #cdnpoli #elbowsup

Energy advocate critical of Nova Scotia premier’s response to rising power rates - Halifax Examiner "They’ve done nothing about energy poverty and they have been in power almost five years now," Chris Benjamin said.

Energy advocate critical of Nova Scotia premier’s response to rising power rates www.halifaxexaminer.ca/economy/ener...

The Staple Theory @ 50 - CCPA Download

This might be of interest

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

This is indeed what we have been advocating for

It is the first national energy efficiency program accessible to all low-income Canadians in decades

Next step is a national framework to eliminate energy poverty to direct and stabilize a program like this

Could the Liberals' carbon tax troubles light a fire under the move toward heat pumps? | CBC News Whatever else the Liberal government's carbon tax contortions have done, they may have boosted the cause of energy efficiency — particularly for low-income households. And there are now calls for the ...

I wrote about that proposal at the time.

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Retrofit Reset: Prioritize Low-Income Households To reduce energy costs and climate risks faced by low-income households, the federal government should establish a new free retrofit program aimed at making about 100,000 homes per year more affordabl...

I'll defer to @brhaley.bsky.social on the detailed analysis, but on first glance this new federal program for targeted retrofits...

natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-effic...

... seems to look a lot like what a group of experts proposed in 2023.

irpp.org/research-stu...

This is indeed what we have been advocating for

It is the first national energy efficiency program accessible to all low-income Canadians in decades

Next step is a national framework to eliminate energy poverty to direct and stabilize a program like this

A home built for yesterday can’t withstand tomorrow Canada is about to build millions of new homes. This is a once-in-a-generation nation-building project, the kind we haven’t seen since the postwar boom.

most federal investments in housing don’t include requirements for high-performance envelopes - that keep homes safe during extreme heat, poor air quality or cold snaps writes Jillian McArthur is

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/09/05/o...

The Greener Homes Loan Program is running out of money.

We need MPs to act now to secure long-term funding so the program continues without interruption.

ujoin.co/campaigns/39...

Bringing Inuit Food Security and Sovereignty into Canadian Nation-Building Narrative Over the past year, the Canadian state has renewed its focus on Arctic sovereignty, investing in military infrastructure and extractive projects under the guise of national security. In this Brief, Ye...

Bringing Inuit Food Security and Sovereignty into Canadian Nation-Building Narratives

yellowheadinstitute.org/2025/bringin...

Inside Transport Canada's pointless coverup What an Access to Information request into a weeks-long runaround to dodge a simple answer to a question about a North Atlantic right whale surveillance program reveals about the inner workings of the...

Want an example of how to save money and increase productivity in the public service?

Here’s an example of where the waste is - political ass covering.

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/09/02/o...

Funding shortfall looms for signature energy retrofit program in Canada About 3,500 new loans are approved every month under the federal Greener Homes Loan program. Advocates forecast it will be out of cash by mid November.

Funding shortfall looms for signature energy retrofit program in Canada

#cdnpoli #energysky

www.corporateknights.com/energy/fundi...

5 reasons improving energy efficiency is a good nation-building project - Efficiency Canada Energy efficiency deserves to be treated as a nation-building project — one that the federal government should lead.

Canada is abuzz with talk of nation-building projects, but they are mostly about energy supply like pipelines and transmission.

This blog gives 5 reasons why saving energy would make a good nation-building project.

#energysky #cdnpoli #elbowsup

www.efficiencycanada.org/5-reasons-im...

Federal retrofit loan program is set to dry up by year's end unless Carney steps in The multi-billion dollar Canada Greener Homes Loan program that gives zero interest loans to Canadians to retrofit their homes was so popular it got a $600 million top up last year. But within months,...

Pressure is on the federal government to refill dwindling coffers — set to run dry this year, an access to information request reveals — of its loan program to help Canadians improve energy efficiency in their homes. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/08/21/n...

Funds Running Short for Green Energy Loans as Carney Urged to Prevent ‘Boom and Bust’ The Carney government is just a few months away from running out of funds for a signature home retrofit loan program that could be a cornerstone of its effort to cut energy costs and climate pollution...

Funds Running Short for Green Energy Loans as Carney Urged to Prevent ‘Boom and Bust’ www.theenergymix.com/funds-runnin...

Federal retrofit loan program is set to dry up by year's end unless Carney steps in The multi-billion dollar Canada Greener Homes Loan program that gives zero interest loans to Canadians to retrofit their homes was so popular it got a $600 million top up last year. But within months,...

Federal retrofit loan program is set to dry up by year's end unless Carney steps in

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/08/21/n...

Ontario urged to adopt a temperature maximum in extreme heat era The demand is one of several made by a network calling itself The Heat Collaborative, which is also calling on the province to adopt heat stress rules for workers, ensure cooling in schools and more.

Ontario summers are only getting hotter — but renters and vulnerable people are left without protections. A network of groups is urging the province to set a max indoor temp, adopt heat stress rules for workers, ensure cooling in schools and more. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/08/19/n...