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Two years after Winnipeg began implementing its net-zero focused Community Energy Investment Roadmap, a citizen-led committee is pushing the city to study exactly how to implement one of the Roadmap’s core pillars: phasing out natural gas use in all buildings, existing and new.
A motion to request that City of Winnipeg staff report back in six months on “tools and mechanisms available to phase out the use of natural gas in existing buildings and buildings planned for greenfield and infill development,” is due to be ruled on by the city’s Waste, Water, and Environment Committee on Nov. 22.
Adopted by the city’s Climate Action and Resilience Committee, a citizens’ advisory body, on Oct. 28, the motion provides chronology and context for Winnipeg’s developing interest in a gas phaseout:
• In March 2022, council asked staff to report back on policies in Vancouver and New York banning new buildings from using natural gas after 2030.
• In July 2022, it directed staff to implement the Community Energy Investment Roadmap for reducing energy consumption, improving efficiency, and switching to low-carbon energy sources.
• This September, the Manitoba government released its Manitoba Affordable Energy Plan, which pledges to “move away from non-renewable heating sources such as natural gas.”
Read the full post at The Energy Mix.
