Furnaces are in the crosshairs of the fight over gas

Proposed upgrades to B.C.'s efficiency standards for furnaces, water heaters and other home-heating appliances are coming under fire from some contractors and the province's far right.

The proposed Highest Efficiency Equipment Standard (HEES) would take effect on Jan. 1, 2030, and require all home and water-heating appliances sold in the province be at least 100 per cent efficient at converting energy to heat. This spells the end for gas-only furnaces and water heaters, which at their best can only reach about 98 per cent efficiency, but allows for the continued use of electric baseboard heaters, heat pumps and hybrid electric/gas heating systems.

B.C. is the first Canadian province to implement these types of efficiency requirements for heating appliances.

The changes are part of the province's overarching plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings, which account for about 12 per cent of the province's planet-warming emissions. The plan also includes updates to the B.C. building code and guidelines to help municipalities limit greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.

The HEES is a "pillar" of this broader emissions-reduction strategy, explained George Benson, a member of the B.C. Climate Solutions Council.

"I worry that the Highest Efficiency Equipment Standard is often being made out to be something that it's not: a gas ban," he said. "This mixture of misinformation and misunderstanding could end up hurting or delaying something that can drive prosperity and support affordability for British Columbians."

While FortisBC is undeniably lobbying on the new regulations, said Jessica McIlroy, the buildings program manager for the Pembina Institute, contractors, salespeople and the province’s conservative party BC United are also pushing back on them.

Canada's National Observer asked FortisBC to outline its position on the proposed efficiency rules, whether it has published any ads framing the rules as a ban and if it has been pressuring businesses or municipal politicians to reject the changes. FortisBC “always appreciate(s) opportunities to consult with government on matters that impact our customers," said Diana Sorace, the company’s senior adviser of corporate communications, in a statement.

Feb. 21, 2024

Industry fears about changing standards and a lack of training are valid, McIlroy said. But to oppose the plan, the opposition has been twisted with climate disinformation propagated by fossil fuel companies.

"Gas industry members have come together to try to say: 'There won't be enough electricity. You're taking away consumer choice. It'll be way too expensive,' and are trying to mount these campaigns against it," she explained.

"A lot of the pushback has essentially latched onto the existing narrative (that) governments and regulators are trying to phase out or ban the use of gas," added Dylan Heerema, a senior policy advisor at Ecotrust Canada.

He pointed out that claim is not true: the "efficiency-driven" regulation still allows gas as a backup system and gas heat pumps, which are more expensive than electric ones. Meanwhile, efforts by B.C. and municipal governments to limit the expansion of natural gas infrastructure have focused on restricting new gas infrastructure and fossil gas use but are making no moves to ban the fuel outright.

Municipalities like Nanaimo and Burnaby, which have implemented some of these measures to ban gas infrastructure in new buildings, have come under sustained fire from natural gas industry lawsuits, lobbying and disinformation campaigns.

Now, it appears some construction contractors and conservative politicians are also parroting the gas industry's resistance to the proposed efficiency standard.

Canada's National Observer obtained the Microsoft Teams chat log from a person who attended a Feb. 6, 2024, provincial government consultation session with industry about efficiency standards.

The 13-page document reveals a handful of B.C. heating and home construction contractors criticizing the proposed rules over their supposed cost and impact on the electrical grid. Some even directly referenced claims about electricity shortages being made by FortisBC.

For example, Kelowna contractor David Pfuetzner wrote that "electrification is IMPOSSIBLE. No capacity," citing "the future of energy conference just put on by Fortis." That same day, a nearly identical claim was made by Doug Slater, FortisBC vice-president of Indigenous relations and regulatory affairs, at a Vancouver conference sponsored by Fortis.

"Capacity is a challenge" for B.C., said Slater. Capacity is the ability of the electric grid to meet demand at a specific time, and gas offers "large volumes of energy affordably and over long seasons."

Speaking at the same conference, Dan Woynillowicz, BC Hydro's external energy adviser and principal at Polaris Strategy + Insight, said the province could theoretically meet its energy needs with renewables if it expanded wind and solar power capacity and better linkages with other provincial grids.

A report published last year by the David Suzuki Foundation in conjunction with a team of University of Victoria researchers concluded that Canada can meet its anticipated energy needs without using fossil fuels or developing major hydroelectric or nuclear projects by investing in renewables and improving interprovincial grid linkages.

The province could also relegate gas to some industrial processes and back up the electrical system while curtailing FortisBC's home-heating distribution system, he said.

Another person on the Feb. 6 call, who owns a Vancouver Island wood and gas fireplace and heat pump installation company, also emphasized that FortisBC is planning to transition its fuel supply to so-called "renewable natural gas," which is made by capturing methane from organic materials that would otherwise escape to the atmosphere.

Renewable natural gas is "actually burning materials which would otherwise cause a greater heating effect," he wrote. "Thus, global warming potential is actually less, and potentially even less than hydro."

However, according to FortisBC's own projections, renewable natural gas made from organic matter will only ever account for a small fraction of the utility's future gas supply. Most of the remainder will come from so-called "blue" or "turquoise" hydrogen, which are made from fossil fuels.

Contractors aren't the only group pushing back on the proposed regulations. Last month, the right-leaning BC United published a press release attacking the efficiency regulations as an attempt to "ban natural gas for home heating by 2030." The party claims the rules will also "mean that families need to dish out anywhere from $4,100 to $15,000 for new heating systems, which may never see a financial return on that investment."

That is incorrect. The regulations do not ban gas heating, take effect after 2030 and only require building owners to buy new, more efficient equipment when older furnaces and water heaters reach the end of their life. Research by the Canadian Climate Institute shows that over the course of their lifetime, energy-efficient appliances like electric heat pumps are cheaper than their gas-powered counterparts.

While McIlroy wasn't expecting the outcry over the standards, she thought it would "easily get through because it's very technical." Still, she isn’t surprised by the pushback. After all, the standard is "yet another way" fossil fuel companies are "gonna lose business."

[Top: Illustration by Ata Ojani/National Observer]