A better power choice

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/02/2024 (589 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans can be forgiven for questioning how burning more fossil fuels in gas turbines to make electricity is going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This misdirected idea was first offered by the soon-to-be-replaced leadership at Manitoba Hydro, and then repeated in a recent opinion piece by Robert Parsons (Moving forward on electricity — practically, Feb 22).

Instead of gas turbines, Manitoba Hydro, homeowners, businesses, and our provincial economy will all be far better off if we start using ground-source heat pump (GSHP) technology to its full potential — and implement it as a utility.

The financial benefits of GSHP technology are particularly attractive to building owners. Homeowners, businesses, and institutions alike would all save a considerable amount of money for decades to come, thanks to lower energy costs and avoided carbon taxes.

Many signature buildings in Manitoba already use this proven technology, including Ikea, the Seasons of Tuxedo shopping district, the Alt Hotel, and significantly, Manitoba Hydro’s own award-winning corporate head office. Shifting to geothermal heating creates local employment and reduces the billions of dollars that leak out of our economy every year to pay for fossil fuel imports.

It is past time for all Manitobans to finally have easy access to this clean, durable, and cost-saving technology.

Extensive use of GSHP systems addresses Hydro’s looming problem with peak load capacity at a lower cost than gas turbines ever could.

Each time a building with electric heat is converted to geothermal, enough peak demand is made available to operate geothermal systems in two other buildings of similar size.

If all single-family homes currently heated with electric heat were converted to GSHP systems, Hydro would gain over 900 MW of additional peak load capacity. If all building types were converted, Hydro could have hundreds of additional megawatts available without having to install any new generation at all.

If we amortize geothermal infrastructure costs as a utility — an idea promoted by Hydro Minister Adrien Sala during the last provincial election — building owners would simply pay a fee on their monthly bills the same as we do already for water, sewer, gas, and electricity infrastructure. GSHP systems only appear to be more expensive compared to gas, because currently the building owner must pay the entire upfront cost of the ground heat exchanger all at once, whereas gas infrastructure is amortized as a utility over many decades.

With the upfront infrastructure costs covered by those fees, Manitoba Hydro receives hundreds of additional MW virtually for free (and building owners enjoy net savings at the same time). In what world does it make sense to ignore free MW and instead spend millions or billions on new gas turbines that will become unusable, stranded assets from climate change, possibly before they could even be built?

Prioritizing geothermal is a made-in-Manitoba solution that reduces rate increases because we won’t have to pay for those extra turbines or sign import contracts with other jurisdictions.

Another practical opportunity involves CentraGas, whose employees have, for decades, kept our buildings warm on even the coldest winter days. Instead of viewing CentraGas infrastructure as a stranded asset, why not engage its employees in the installation and maintenance of the new geothermal utility? They already know how to operate a district energy system that covers much of the province.

The new provincial government has a unique opportunity in its upcoming spring budget to launch a geothermal utility for the benefit of all Manitobans.

At a minimum, the budget could update the province’s now out-of-date Green Building Policy to require any building receiving provincial dollars must use geothermal to provide cost-effective and emissions-free heating and cooling year-round.

It is time to put gas turbines where they belong — with the fossils.

Curt Hull is project director of Climate Change Connection and vice-chair of Sustainable Building Manitoba. Ed Lohrenz is one of North America’s leading experts on GSHP system design and installation. He has worked in that industry successfully for 40 years.