Item - 2023.IE9.7

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council direct the Executive Director, Environment and Climate to continue to work with Toronto Hydro to accelerate efforts to streamline the grid interconnection process for solar and storage projects by:  

a. identifying opportunities to streamline the interconnection process for small-scale projects with the aim to make it faster, cost effective, and easier for residents, and implement changes in the near-term, based on best practices;

b. having Toronto Hydro share its efforts to remove distribution system constraints that prevent customers from installing solar or storage, and identifying actions to remove or reduce information barriers, such as the location of grid constraints or expected interconnection timelines and costs, that can slow the interconnection of small-scale solar;

c. exploring options for streamlining permitting processes for solar installations; and

d. exploring opportunities to remove zoning barriers to solar, storage or heat pumps.

2. City Council direct the Executive Director, Environment and Climate, in consultation with Corporate Real Estate Management, and relevant divisions and agencies to work together to: 

a. Develop a corporate standard for combining re-roofing programs / projects with roof-top-solar installations on City buildings, based on solar photovoltaic (PV) feasibility, funding availability and alignment with the capital plan. 

b. Develop a corporate standard to assess the feasibility of surface parking lots for solar photovoltaic carport opportunities as part of repaving projects in the asset management planning/program. 

3. City Council authorize the Deputy City Manager, Corporate Services, or their designates, to negotiate amendments to the Joint Development Agreement, dated April 4, 2018, between the City of Toronto and Enwave Energy Corporation (“JDA”) on terms acceptable to the Interim Deputy City Manager, Corporate Services, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor, as a condition for the City agreeing to renew the Joint Development Agreement for a second 5-year term. 

4. City Council direct the City Manager or their designates, in consultation with relevant City Divisions, Agencies and Corporations, to establish a framework for reviewing proposals to establish renewable thermal energy infrastructure under City land assets to reduce emissions in buildings. 

5. City Council direct the Executive Director, Environment and Climate, Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, and the Director, Waterfront Secretariat in City Planning to establish a framework for reviewing energy projects that require locating heat exchange infrastructure on the Lake Ontario lakebed and to consult with the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada on a combined regulatory approach to better facilitating such projects.  

6. City Council direct the Executive Director, Environment and Climate, in consultation with relevant City Divisions, Agencies and Corporations, involved with any of the initiatives discussed in this report, to report to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on the status and progress of the above recommended directions in alignment with the annual TransformTO reporting requirements. 

7. City Council direct that the Confidential Attachment 1 remain confidential until the City Solicitor advises the City Clerk that the material can be made public, as it involves a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on by the City.

This report principally provides an update responding to City Council direction (Part 40, 2021.IE26.16 TransformTO Net-Zero Strategy Report) on addressing barriers and developing strategies to increase deployment of renewable energy in Toronto.  

The report requests City Council's continued support with specific recommendations to scale the City's renewable energy programs and initiatives, reduce barriers, strengthen existing partnerships, and establish new partnerships to advance renewable energy uptake to meet Council adopted TransformTO's ambitious target of 50 percent of community-wide energy from renewable sources by 2030.  

By scaling up renewable energy in its own operations, the City leads by example. By deploying clean technologies using innovative delivery models on City-owned properties, the City charts new pathways for decarbonization and creates local demand for zero emissions goods and services. In addition to playing a leadership role, the City plays a necessary role in supporting community-wide renewable energy adoption, in particular given that community-wide emissions represent 95 percent of annual emissions versus 5 percent of annual emissions from City operations.

The City facilitates adoption by leveraging its own assets both hard and soft, such as enabling access to City-owned land and infrastructure to host renewable thermal energy projects and utilizing the City's existing information and software resources, including Geographic Information System to help residents, businesses and institutions assess renewable energy potential. The City also has direct oversight of permitting and inspection procedures for renewable energy projects, and by implementing best permitting practices, the City can facilitate adoption.

In this report, there is a table (pages 13 to 15) with responses to outstanding Council directives in addition to updates on current and future City renewable energy programs, including deep geothermal exploration for the Port Lands, hosting renewable thermal energy below ground surface in City-owned land, and shallow-lake cooling and heating for building in the waterfront.

One key area that is expected to exponentially grow in deployment is solar and storage for local resilient renewable electricity generation and peak demand management.

- The City’s SolarTO program helps Toronto residents, businesses and institutions with their decisions to adopt solar and storage. It provides an interactive online resource of Toronto’s rooftops solar potential. By entering an address, a report is provided in real-time of the estimated potential solar energy production for that roof, including environmental and financial benefits. Also, by continuing to adopt renewable energy technologies including solar and storage on City facilities and land where feasible, the City demonstrates leadership

- As adoption of renewable energy, and certainly interest from residents and businesses continues to grow towards mass adoption (anticipated exponential growth) to meet TransformTO goal of 50 percent of energy use from renewables before 2030, City staff will work with partners to review opportunities to streamline grid connection, and City regulatory and non-regulatory processes.

- Also, while solar hardware costs have fallen dramatically in recent years, "soft costs", such as grid connection, permitting, installation, financing, and related processes have not. Soft costs are driven up when processes for going solar are slow or inefficient. On average, a home roof top solar installation takes two weeks for on-site physical installation, versus over 20 weeks for an applicant to get all the necessary processes completed. City Divisions and partner agencies are working with industry and stakeholders to look at ways to improve this ratio.