treatment-of-electricity-in-the-obps-march-6-2019-3831d4c78a6f8744.pdf

A statement from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and other organizations urging the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to revise the treatment of electricity generation within the Output-Based Pricing System (OBPS) to better incentivize the transition to renewable energy and the phase-out of coal.

• The authors argue that the draft regulations for the Output-Based Pricing System (OBPS) fail to reflect the low-carbon nature of renewables and create barriers to their deployment. Specifically, they criticize the proposed standards of 800 t of CO2e/GWh for coal in 2019 (declining to 370 t of CO2e/GWh by 2030) and a fixed 370 t of CO2e/GWh for natural gas.
• The document proposes two alternative mechanisms for electricity standards: a primary preference for a 370 t of CO2e/GWh standard for existing facilities and a 0 standard for new facilities across all fuel types, or a compromise where coal and natural gas standards converge by 2021 and reach 0 by 2030.
• The authors contend that the draft regulations effectively subsidize the coal industry and contradict Canada's role in the Powering Past Coal Alliance. They note that while coal is 2.25 times more emission-intensive than gas, the proposed treatment means coal plants would pay only 0.49 to 0.58 as much as gas plants between 2019 and 2030.
• The statement highlights the effectiveness of carbon pricing in Alberta, where a price signal on electricity emissions led to a net decline in GHG emissions of 7 Mt in 2018 compared to the previous year, which the authors estimate avoided 29-36 premature mortalities.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (2019). treatment-of-electricity-in-the-obps-march-6-2019-3831d4c78a6f8744.pdf. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Treatment-of-electricity-in-the-OBPS-March-6-2019.pdf#new_tab

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. treatment-of-electricity-in-the-obps-march-6-2019-3831d4c78a6f8744.pdf. 2019. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Treatment-of-electricity-in-the-OBPS-March-6-2019.pdf#new_tab.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=treatment-of-electricity-in-the-obps-march-6-2019-3831d4c78a6f8744.pdf |date=6 March 2019 |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Treatment-of-electricity-in-the-OBPS-March-6-2019.pdf#new_tab |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironment2019treatmentofelectricityintheobpsmarch620193831d4c78a6f8744pdf, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{treatment-of-electricity-in-the-obps-march-6-2019-3831d4c78a6f8744.pdf}}, publisher = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Treatment-of-electricity-in-the-OBPS-March-6-2019.pdf#new_tab}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }