Green Revolution or Green Rebellion?

There have always been a few --- well more than a few --- people interested in being greener. My working definition of "green" is living, working and playing in ways that have less environmental impact. These days, most of the green attention is going to energy. Alternative, renewable, clean, sustainable: choose your adjective.

The attenion is understandable given the amount of air time climate change has received in the past few years. And while the focus on green energy may have pushed other important environmental issues into the shadows (water being one...), some analysts suggest we're missing the main point behind green energy of late. Some suggest we are moving from green revolution to green rebellion.

When it comes to electricity, there have always been some (at least in rural Ontario) that have chosen to get "off the grid" either because the cost of getting a "hydro" line in to a property has been prohibitive, or because they simply chose not to be at the whim of public but not very local electricity generating and distribution systems. It would be an understatement to say that some of us are a bit rebellious! After the '98 ice storm, more people added generators or alternative energy systems to avoid being left in the lurch as power lines fell like dominos and hundreds of thousands waited in the cold and dark for power restoration. The August blackout a few years later was more bearable because it took place in summer and was of much shorter duration. But the same message was delivered. It can be risky to trust centralized electricity generation.

Not long after September 11 (you don't really need me to remind you of the year do you?) I recall reading security analyst comments indicating the vulnerability of large power plants... taking one "out" would disable a significant share of the population and the businesses relying on that plant and maybe even create mayhem in the surrounding area. These analysts were pointing out the risk management advantages of a decentralized energy system (many smaller generating facilities rather than just a few biggies).

Lately I've been reading about individual communities feeling that the monolithic electricity production --- and to some extent distribution --- organizations have let them down, unable to provide secure supply or reasonable pricing. California is a recent example... and of course, California has long been considered a harbinger of things to come elsewhere. Some communities say they are planning to take their energy (electricity) future into their own hands, building their own generating facilities and presumably distributing with their own portion of the electricity grid. It's interesting to me that this should be happening in California, long considered one of the United States' most environmentally-conscious jurisdictions. That communities should think of "disconnecting" from this system suggests the story isn't all about degrees of green-ness. Something else is at play here.

Is it really as much about control as it is green values? There are many ways to get to a decentralized energy system --- by incrementalism, revolution or outright rebellion. Only time will tell which path Califorians will follow but in some communities at least, the trajectory is looking like --- and is being called --- "green rebellion".

It's taken quite a while for Ontario to "smell the coffee" but the Green Energy Act suggests that we are now coming to understand the value of a distributed energy system --- and it goes beyond increased production of alternative energy. It is (hopefully) also about the Province's recognition that many of its citizens want to be a part of the "generation generation".... people and organizations that generate a larger share of their electricity (and to some extent thermal energy) themselves. This is a change in mindset for many of our fellow citizens who used to be quite happy to flip the switch and never give electricity another thought. Apparently that approach is no longer wise!

Several years ago, I spoke to the Economic Development Council of Ontario on energy as a potential competitive advantage for Ontario communities. At that time, I referred to a phenomenon I was observing at that time of businesses of all sizes giving serious consideraton to becoming generators of their own electricity --- albiet "reluctant generators". They don't really WANT to get into the electricity generation business --- that's not what they do best ---- but the cost of all too frequent "brownouts" is causing too much pain on the bottom line. And if they can green their businesses at the same time, so much the better. So disconnecting from the centralized system --- or least having your own backup system as an ace-in-the-hole is increasingly being seen as a good idea.

How many of our business and community leaders are secretly thinking the same thing? Have we moved from green revolution to green rebellion?