Ontario's Ministry of Energy recently released their "2017 Long-Term Energy Plan: Delivering Fairness and Choice." The province first launched their energy plan in 2010, and reviewed it once in 2013. Since then, they engaged consumers through means such as stakeholder sessions and Environmental Registry submissions to gather feedback for this 2017 update. The key initiatives focus on: ensuring affordable and accessible energy to customers; innovating the energy system; improving value, performance, conservation and efficiency; and shifting towards clean energy.
In order for both the province and the consumer to work towards these goals, it is critical to provide access to energy usage data and metrics. Ontario seeks to employ the Green Button data standard which gives individuals "easy electronic access" to this information. Green Button was created in the U.S. Department of Energy's "Apps for Energy Challenge," with the concept that customers should be able to download their own electricity usage from their utility website. Ontario's Energy Plan states,
"Greater access to information through Green Button will allow consumers to better understand their energy and water usage and use the information to make decisions, such as reducing or shifting their energy use or retrofitting their home or business to improve its energy efficiency. Green Button can also support energy reporting and benchmarking, and create new opportunities for economic development."
Energy Hippo is an authorized service provider for Green Button and can help your organization access and manage your energy usage data. Contact support@energyhippo.com to learn more.
