During day-to-day life, most people probably don’t consider how much they really know about natural gas or electricity, despite how much these resources are relied upon.
While there are plenty of great online resources to learn about electricity or gas, not every site offers trustworthy information. Read on below to find out what the most common myths about electricity and gas are in Canada.
1. You shouldn’t bother turning off your lights if you are leaving a room for a short period of time
What you should do depends on the type of lights that you have in your home. Here’s what to do, according to the U.S. Department of Energy:
- Incandescent lighting – This type of lighting should always be turned off when you’re not actively using it. It’s inefficient and produces heat – not ideal for warmer temperatures.
- Halogen lighting – While more efficient than incandescent lighting, it’s still not the most efficient lighting out there. As such, it’s best to switch off these types of lights as soon as they’re not actively needed.
- CFL lighting – For this type of lighting, it depends on the amount of time you’ll be leaving the room for. You can prolong the life of CFL lighting by reducing the number of times you turn it on and off. If you’re leaving for more than 15 minutes, switch off the lights. If you’re returning in less than 15 minutes, keep them on.
- LED lighting – Like most other types of lighting, it’s best to turn off these lights when you aren’t using them.
2. All electricity and natural gas plans are the same
There’s more of a difference than just the provider’s name when it comes to electricity and natural gas plans. There are several types of plans (fixed, floating) out there – additionally, every provider will have different administration charges. Additionally, when you choose to bundle your services together under one retailer, you may be able to receive promotional rates or other benefits.
3. Natural gas is environmentally friendly
This statement depends on the context that it’s presented in. In comparison to coal or other fossil fuels, natural gas certainly produces less emissions. To help you picture the difference think about the following: according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 117 pounds of CO2 are produced per million British thermal units (MMBtu) equivalent of natural gas compared with more than 200 pounds of CO2 per MMBtu of coal for the same amount of energy produced.
Of course, when you compare natural gas to clean energy types such as hydropower, there’s also a stark contrast. A report by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc. for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission found that GHG emissions rates for a lifecycle were 0.5-152 kg CO2eq/MWh for a run-of-river or non-tropical reservoir hydroelectric facility versus 400-500 kg CO2eq/MWh for a natural gas facility.
To summarize – natural gas is more environmentally friendly than other fossil fuel types but still produces significantly more emissions than standard clean energy sources.
4. Appliances stop using power once they are switched off.
Many people would assume that if they aren’t actively using a device, there would be no energy being used. Unfortunately, that may not be the case. Many appliances have stand-by modes or sleep modes that are enabled by default to reduce start-up times for when we need to use these electronics. According to the National Resources Defence Council, this translates to a cost of approximately $19 billion per year in the United States or about $165 per household on average.
5. Natural gas-powered electricity is cheaper
According to a report from Clean Energy Canada, the levelized cost of energy in Alberta for natural gas-based electricity production is higher than solar and wind-based electricity production. In fact, costs are projected to continue decreasing. By 2035, solar power production and storage costs will have decreased to $ 0.11 per kWh, wind power production and storage costs will have decreased to $0.07 per kWh while gas energy production will remain at $0.23 per kWh.
6. It doesn’t matter what time of day you run your appliances
In regions where time-of-use pricing is in place, the time of day when you run your appliances will have a noticeable impact on your energy bill. For example, in Ontario, on-peak (weekdays from 11 AM to 5 PM) electricity costs are 18.2 cents per kilowatt hour while off-peak electricity costs are 8.7 cents per kilowatt hour as per the Ontario Energy Board.
7. Natural gas furnaces will still run during a power outage
Although it would be reasonable to assume that natural gas furnaces would work during an electricity outage, that is unfortunately untrue. As stated by Efficiency Canada, natural gas furnaces require electricity to run as circuit boards, relays as well as blower motors are required to heat your home.
8. The amount of natural gas reserves in Canada are virtually limitless
According to the Canadian Gas Association, Canada had an estimated 1368 trillion cubic feet of natural gas resources in 2022. This amount would equate to over 200 years of usage, given the current average annual amount. Though there is currently still a large supply of natural gas in Canada, there is still a need to plan for when it is depleted. For example, as a part of its 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, the Government of Canada “launched the $750 million Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) – Onshore Program” in order to support oil and gas companies in investing in green solutions.
9. Using shorter cycles on your appliances will save on energy usage
In general, shorter cycles will save time but not really energy, water or money. For example, consider a heat pump dryer. As explained by ENERGY STAR, heat pump dryers have a longer drying cycle but they are around 30 percent more efficient than a standard clothes dryer. Additionally, because heat dryer pumps dry your clothing at a lower set temperature, they cause less wear.
10. Consumers will have higher costs due to being able to choose what provider supplies their home with electricity
The option to choose which retailer provides your home or business with electricity and natural gas doesn’t equate to higher pricing. In fact, it encourages retailers to offer competitive pricing relative to one another in addition to offering more options to fit a wide variety of energy needs.
If you weren’t able to select an energy provider, or if there is only one provider in your area, your local area would fall under a utility monopoly.
As per an article from Forbes, local utility monopolies have no incentive to provide better service for customers or have reasonable pricing. In some cases, there are even larger impacts. Consider Hawaii, the state with the highest average electricity price of any state. During the Maui wildfires in 2023, there were rolling blackouts due to a lack of investment in upgrading and maintaining the required equipment for functionality in extreme weather.
Overall, a choice in providers means lower costs in the present as well as ensuring the necessary maintenance and investments to continue providing your home with reliable service.
11. Natural gas contributes minimally to meeting Canada’s overall energy demand
While there are certainly goals in place to decrease the use of fossil fuels such as natural gas in Canada, natural gas still contributes to a large proportion of Canada’s final demand for energy, According to the Canadian Gas Association, 36 percent of energy final demand for Canada was met using natural gas in 2021.
However, do note that in the future, there are projections for the demand for natural gas to decline.
According to the Canadian Energy Regulator, from 2025 to 2050, natural gas demand falls as less is required for the production of crude oil and additional natural gas. This is both in part due to higher efficiency in the production of both as well as lessened production of fossil fuels to make way for renewable energy use.
12. Renewable electricity will only ever be able to contribute a small amount to Canada’s overall power generation
As per the Government of Canada, in 2022, renewable energy sources provided 16.9 percent of Canada’s total primary energy supply. Accounting for just hydroelectricity alone, it provided 61.7 percent of Canada’s electricity generation in 2022.
In comparison, wind and solar power accounted for 6.1 percent and 0.5 percent respectively for contributions to Canada’s electric grid in 2022. In the future, however, solar and wind power have the potential to make up a larger proportion overall in Canada’s electric grid.
As stated by Clean Energy Canada, further investment into stronger grids, affordable storage and a dispatchable power supply would help enable higher shares of wind and solar power on the power grid.
13. Renewable electricity has higher overall costs associated with its production
According to an article from Clean Energy Canada, wind power is set to be 40 percent cheaper than natural gas power by 2030. As for solar power, its pricing is already lower than that of natural gas derived power. By 2030, its projected to be about 16 percent cheaper than natural gas.
14. Natural Gas Appliances Have No Down Sides
There is some amount of risk when using natural gas appliances as burning natural gas releases carbon monoxide and natural gas itself may contain benzene, formaldehyde or other harmful substances.
However, with proper venting and routine inspection of your natural gas appliances and natural gas line for leaks, the risks associated with using natural gas appliances is minimized.
15. Electricity Costs for Electric Vehicles Far Exceed the Cost of Gas in Standard Vehicles
While electric or hybrid vehicles often have a higher upfront cost than regular vehicles, the cost of electricity to power them is significantly lower than the cost of fuel to power a traditional vehicle.
According to an article from the Canadian Climate Institute, the average Canadian driving around 15,000 km per year will pay approximately $2000 a year for gas while the same amount of mileage for an electric vehicle would cost only around $350 a year.
Additionally, an added benefit of relying on electricity for powering our vehicles is that electricity prices are more stable and predictable relative to gasoline costs.
