FACT SHEET Environmental Standby Power REGISTRATION Systems The Ministry of the Environment has transformed its the facility or to generate electricity to sell back environmental approvals program. It has worked to the grid (peak shaving or clipping) closely with business, industry and other stakehold- n customer-based generation or distributed gen- ers to develop a registration process for standard eration where facilities choose to install a gen- and routine-type activities and sectors – including erator set on-site to meet all or a portion of their certain standby power systems. electricity consumption needs, rather than buy Businesses are required to register these activities electricity from the grid. in the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR). How does a business determine if its sys- Key features of the registry include: tem is eligible to register in the EASR? n flexibility to operate a facility within pre-established A business must register any standby power system parameters that meets certain eligibility requirements set out n online self-registration in Ontario Regulation (O. Reg.) 346/12 under the Environmental Protection Act. n an online searchable database of businesses that have registered their activities. The standby power system must: n be used only for providing electrical power dur- What is a standby power system? ing power outages (i.e., a blackout) or involuntary power reductions (i.e., a brownout) For the purpose of registering in the EASR, a standby power system is a generator (or gener- n use biodiesel, diesel, natural gas, propane or a combination of them as fuel ators) and associated equipment intended only to provide electrical power during power outages or n not include any individual generator unit with a involuntary power reductions. It does not include rated capacity of over 700 kilowatts systems that would provide power for other pur- n have its wastewater managed appropriately, e.g., poses, for example: by discharging it to a municipal sanitary sewer. n generator set owners/operators participating either A business may not need to register its system in directly or indirectly or through an ‘aggregator’ in certain situations, detailed in section 8(4) of O. Reg. the Ontario Power Authority’s Demand Response 346/12. In other cases, systems may require an III (DR3) program or other similar programs Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) and/or n individual facilities using on-site generator sets other approvals. to generate electricity during periods of high sys- tem demand to either reduce electricity costs of Environmental Registration FACT SHEET Does a business need to register a standby If a business registers a system that had an ECA power system that is already covered by an then it will not be subject to some of the require- Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA)? ments of the regulation provided no changes have been made to the system since the approval was A business will need to register an eligible activity issued. This is allowed because the system was covered by an ECA: reviewed by the ministry when the ECA was issued. n when a business wants to make a change to the activity that would have otherwise required an How will the Ministry of the Environment amendment to the approval support compliance? n by the date prescribed in the regulation stating when the ECA for an activity expires. For standby The ministry works to protect the environment by: power systems this date is October 31, 2016. n providing guidance n checking that a business’s activities meet regis- How does a business register? tration and operating requirements through A business can self-register through ServiceO ntario’s audits of registry information and inspections ONe-Source for Business portal at service ontario.ca. n when needed, taking steps to bring systems Additional guidance materials are available under into compliance. the Resources section of ontario.ca/environmental- approvals. Where can a business get more information? Visit: ontario.ca/environmentalapprovals What obligations does a business have after registering? Call: 1-800-461-6290 or 416-314-8001 A business will need to make sure that: n the system continues to meet registration eligibil- ity requirements n the registration remains up-to-date n the system also meets mandatory operating requirements set out in O. Reg. 346/12. Key operating requirements relate to: 2 1 20 a) the use, operation and maintenance of each o, component of the system ari Ont b) restrictions on the use and operation of the or system for testing and maintenance purposes er f nt c) the exhaust stack configuration Pri s d) emission limits for the generator units n’ e e e) minimising noise from the system u Q © f) detailed record-keeping. E 1 4 1 9 S B PI Disclaimer: If any differences exist between this document and the legislation and regulation then the legislation and regulation prevail. ontario.ca/environment Ce document est disponible en français