Consumers have a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the National Energy Board says

How much more are people willing to pay to support green values?

By Gordon Jaremko

April 01, 2009

Green Urges reach into executive suites today. “I am very aware and I would like to do my part,” says lawyer Kenneth Bateman, a National Energy Board member and former vice-president of Enmax Corp.

Feeling compelled to do his bit to cut carbon emissions, he’s been shopping for a new hybrid electric car. His environmental conscience and growing suspicion that gas hogs are becoming embarrassingly unfashionable make him balk at revealing the make of his old vehicle.

As an NEB member, Bateman is a specialized counterpart to a high court judge and has a professional duty to be alert to community standards as well as government policies and industry desires. “We are mindful of the reality around us,” he says. To reduce environmental effects of fossil fuel use, “I am doing more than I did yesterday and I think that describes all Canadians.”

While still at the Calgary-owned electricity company, he recalls being “very impressed” by public acceptance of a green “ride the wind” cost increase on the city’s light rapid transit network. The program turned commuter trains into zero-emissions vehicles by switching the service entirely over to power generated by southern Alberta wind turbines.

“There are many people willing to pay a little bit more for environmental energy,” Bateman says. How far does this willingness to support green virtue go? How much extra are consumers prepared to pay? Are many ready to abandon the energy-gobbling pillars of the North American lifestyle – the independent mobility and elbow room that go with personal motor vehicles and big homes?

An attempt to take a reliable reading of the Canadian public’s green pulse will likely be included in a 2009 update of a periodic NEB manual for policy-makers, titled Canada’s Energy Future: Reference Case and Scenarios.

The current edition, released 18 months ago, highlighted lifestyle changes needed for consumers to make measurable contributions to reducing the nation’s growing greenhouse gas emissions. Serious requirements were documented by a scenario called Triple E, short for balancing economic, environmental and energy objectives.

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