Monica Gattinger, Director, Institute for Science, Society and Policy, University of Ottawa

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The Role of Public Confidence in Energy Policy and Regulation: Elephants, Horses and Sitting DucksProfessor Monica Gattinger, Chair, Positive EnergyDirector, Institute for Science, Society and Policy

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Presentation Overview Context• Brave New World of Energy

– Energy policy and regulation increasingly complex– Energy development increasingly contentious

• The Positive Energy projectPublic Confidence• Drivers• The diagnostique: why now?

– Elephants, Horses and Sitting Ducks• The prescription: how to strengthen public confidence

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Brave New World of EnergyEnergy Policy and Regulation Increasingly Complex

– Governments in search of ‘holy grail’ of energy policy/regulation• Identifying the appropriate balance points

between four imperatives: market, environment, security and social acceptance/support

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The Brave New World of Energy Politics of energy increasingly fierce and polarized

– From NIMBY to BANANA & principled opposition– Not just fossil fuels

Can we afford to go on this way? – Costly: money/time going into projects – Deteriorating relationships– Capital flight / lost economic & environmental

opportunities

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Positive EnergyUses convening power of the university to bring together key energy players to strengthen public confidence

– Policy-makers, regulators, industry, environmental NGOs, Indigenous groups, academia

Undertakes solution-oriented applied evidence-based research to inform dialogue and action

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What Drives Public Confidence?

Public Confidence

Governments: Policy and Regulation

Society: NGOs,

communities, neighbours

Industry: Performance

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Public Confidence: Why Now? Social /Value

Change

Policy Gaps

Energy decision-making

processes

Projectproponent practices

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The Horses: Social & Value ChangeFundamental changes in postwar period- Decline of trust in institutions and deference to

authority/expertise• consequence: whither evidence-based decision-making

and credibility of public authorities to take unbiased decisions?

- Desire for greater public involvement in decisions• tension between participatory & rep’ve democracy

- Shift from communitarian to individual values• Prioritizes individual/local over group/national interests

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The Horses: Social & Value Change- Rise of anti-corporate/big business/fossil fuel values

• Preference for small-scale locally owned renewable - Decline in risk tolerance

• Perceptions of risk can trump realities of risk; risk/benefit rather than cost/benefit

We aren’t in (1950s) Kansas anymore: the horses have left the barn

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The Elephants: Policy GapsMany elephants in many rooms- Climate change: absence of forums/action

• Playing out in energy decision-making processes - Indigenous concerns / Reconciliation

- Many concerns beyond energy playing out in energy decision-making

- Lack of mechanisms to address cumulative effects or to plan regionally • Playing out in regulatory process for individual projects

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Sitting Ducks: Energy Decision Processes

Unresolved Policy Issues

Played out in policy/reg’yprocesses

Reduce public

confidence

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The Sitting DucksEnergy policy & regulatory decision-making processes- Regulatory processes critiqued on all these lines;

regulators’ responses may exacerbate the problem - Where project decision-making brought to political

level, leaders’ responses may undermine confidence in regulatory processes and privilege short term over long term imperatives

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Who Cares? Who Should Care?• Democracies with large energy resource bases

and ambitious targets for energy transition• Solutions require involvement of ministries/policy

sectors beyond energy• Need to be willing to ask – and answer – the

tough questions• Getting energy governance right will unlock

economic and social opportunities, and help countries move to a cleaner energy future

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What to do?Importance of getting diagnosis/solutions rightAccept the horses

- Can’t turn back the clock on social and value change- Governments can’t act unilaterally but need to

balance listening/actingBefriend the elephants

– Address gaps: climate, reconciliation, cumulative/ regional effects

– Ask & answer tough questions: how do we move from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ on climate?

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What to do?Get the ducks back on their feet

– Strengthen confidence in energy decision-making:• Substance: fairness, evidence-based decision-

making• Process: access, trust in evidence, capacity,

representation, political/regulatory interfaceOpportunity for Canada (and North America) to move from bleeding edge to leading edge of public confidence

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www.uottawa.ca/positive-energy