Kirby-Yung Amendment to Energy Sovereignty Motion

So we can confirm that these are not certified yet at the federal level, but BC Hydro has opened up a pilot to test it here. We're anticipating that there are going to be very limited local or very limited barriers at the local government level because they are designed to... to be plugged in, and they're not readily available yet, but we are anticipating that they will be. Thank you.

Thanks. I'd like to propose an amendment that I've sent in to the clerks. If you want to move us to amendment Q. I'll move you there, so please add yourself. Okay. Yeah, we need a seconder for the amendment.

Okay, we need a seconder for that, Amanda.

Yeah, so. Could we have 30 seconds to read it, and then I'm sure there'll be a seconder. Okay, so let's take 30 seconds to resize.

Second by Councillor Meiszner.

Okay, I hope that gave you enough time for people to review. Councillor Kirby-Arm, please go ahead. Yeah, thanks. I think it's always exciting when you have new technologies coming in, and particularly ones that can provide the benefits that Councillor Fry has articulated. There is, I think, a distinction between moving ahead with preparing a regulatory framework and it not being yet certified. But as Councillor Fry noted, there is an opportunity to participate in a pilot. So I'm just going to walk through the amendments that I proposed. First is an amendment, some changes to A, so that it would read that Council affirm its support in principle for the future and safe adoption of direct-to-consumer plug-ins, solar technologies, and potential opportunity to improve... distributed energy resilience, adding in affordability and energy sovereignty, recognizing that such technologies are not presently authorized for residential use in Canada, and that any future implementation will be contingent upon the establishment of appropriate Canadian safety certification standards, electrical code provisions, and technical BC safety requirements. That clause B remains, which allows staff to engage with BC Hydro on their plug-in solar piece so that we can keep that dialogue going and sharing of information. Also recognizing the staff said if it's going to be plug-in, it's probably going to require very little in terms of adaptation on the city side. And then replacing essentially the existing remaining clauses C, D, E, and F with a new C that says that following the completion of the regulatory certification and utility approvals described above, Staff provide counsel with information outlining any steps the city may need to undertake to facilitate the safe and lawful implementation of certified direct-to-consumer plug-in technologies, including any anticipated amendments to city bylaws, permitting processes, inspections, or coordination with Hydro, Technical BC, or other relevant authorities.

And so it's let's keep the open to the new technology. Let's ensure it's certified and it's safe. Let's participate with BC Hydro and get the flow. But it sort of really acknowledges the staff feedback there in terms of what the city's role in. And happily, if it's as flexible a technology as is anticipated to be plug-in, there should be a minimal amount of work on the city side to support that. Thanks. Thank you. Councillor Damanato.

Councillor, we're just checking with staff.

We're going to come back. Thank you. Thanks. Councillor Orr.

Thank you. Yeah, just looking at the amendment and the original motion, I think the amendment kind of strikes out some of the very interesting parts of this well thought out motion. And I think in particular is the right to charge. I think that's a very important sort of component of this, as well as explore approaches to ensure equitable access, including for renters, strata residents and low income households. And that's just, You know, a lot of this new technology comes on the market and we see this kind of thing where it's kind of only adopted by those who can afford it. And it's a very sort of niche thing. And it eventually kind of trickles down years later. But I think this is really important, these clauses. And I wish that these clauses stayed in. Perhaps there's an opportunity to amend that. I do also like how it assesses how they could complement existing city initiatives under the Climate Emergency Action Plan. So, yeah, I'll have to do some thinking on this, but a little worried about that. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Fry? Yeah, thanks, Chair. It's unfortunate that Christopher Cashin was unable to speak. He's actually the expert who's actually doing a lot of this work in the field, and he's incredibly passionate about it, very knowledgeable about this stuff, and a little on the nerdy side when it comes to explaining in detail how this would work. But suffice to say, it's very fast-moving. In fact, so fast-moving this... that when I first submitted this motion, and as council will know, we had to submit our motions for review extraordinarily early this session during that FIFA break. And since the time that I submitted the motion and the staff comments, new technology and this new pilot with BC Hydro was introduced, and things are moving very quickly. This will be certified by early 2027, and it is a tremendous opportunity. I am a little afraid that... I'm not afraid, but I think this amendment does kind of slow walk this really excellent opportunity that we could get really on board with and actually have sort of in place for sooner than later and ideally in a way that could support these kind of air conditioner applications before next summer and hopefully any kind of catastrophic heat dome. So I won't support these amendments, but if it does come to pass, I'll certainly support it as amended. But like Councillor Orr, I am disappointed that we're losing some of the the tenor of the work that Councillor Kerbion has amended out, some of the more salient pieces around the right to charge. I think there is a piece there that is important to consider how we make these solar panel access more equitable to all users so that, in fact, it can be something that renters can readily adapt.

And, of course, we do want to get ahead of... some of the logistics of how does somebody attach a solar panel to a balcony on the eighth floor. Those are real-world considerations that it would be nice to be thinking about and get ahead of so that we are adapting appropriately so we can hit the ground running. So I won't support the amendments. I'm pretty happy with the way it's written now. Thank you.

Okay, thanks, Councillor Frye. Just give me one second.

Okay. All right. So seeing no one else on the queue, let's go to the vote for the amendment. Just make sure that people online turn on your video. Okay. Thank you.

Oh, yeah, right. Okay, sorry, Councillor Zamanato, you've got a question, sorry. Yeah, please go ahead. Thank you. Yes, so, Councillor, to confirm, we have not been in conversations with BC Hydro. We are aware of the pilot, and there is opportunity to participate, but we have not explored. Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you, Chair. Thanks. All right, Councillor Maloney? Sorry, I'll just quickly say... Reading the amendment, it is useful to have a standard in place before it's recognised by code and after that it's basically plugging in an appliance with no need for approval. So I think there are certain advantages to the amendment, so I'll be voting in favour of it.

Thanks. Okay. All right, so seeing no one's on the queue, so let's go to the vote.

We are voting on Councillor Kirby's amendment.

Councillor Bligh? Yes, can I get a vote? Is this abstaining, please? Abstaining, okay. No touch. And who else? Okay, that's it.

Okay, so the amendment passed with Councillor Frye and Councillor Warren in opposition and Councillor Bligh upstanding. Okay, back to the main queue. Councillor Kirby.

That's all. Thanks, Chair. Councillor Dominardo. Are we just on the main motion now, the amended motion? Yes.