News

Five speakers travelled from Waterloo Region to participate in COP21 in Paris. 

• Erik Davies, Manager of Strategic Initiatives and Special Projects, CIGI
• Alexandra Graham, Graduate Student, School of Planning, University of Waterloo 
• Laura Maxwell, Graduate Student, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo 
• Ian Rowlands, Professor, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo 
• Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor, City of Kitchener

Organized by The Council for Clean & Reliable Electricity (bythinkingpower.ca) and The Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre. The Ontario government's decision to partially privatize Hydro One’s transmission and distribution restarted a debate about the appropriate role of the private sector in the electricity industry, and ways in which privatization could affect short- and long-run performance. What will be the impact on costs, infrastructure investment, and rates of a privately-owned and managed entity? What can be learned from other jurisdictions that have also restructured their electricity sectors over the last 20 years? These questions were discussed at the session. 

Eastern Canada Student Energy Conference held at the University of Waterloo and hosted by the UWaterloo Society of Petroleum Engineers Student Chapter. The student conference was an excellent opportunity to learn about and discuss oil and gas industry trends while networking with industry professionals.

Harnessing Innovation to Meet Customer Needs”. During this one-day session, Senior leaders, along with Board Members and Executives, explored through presentations and peer discussions how changes in consumers’ engagement with energy will create opportunities for innovation in Ontario’s energy sector.

Energy Council of Canada Fellow Stephanie Whitney attended the GridSmartCity 2015 Round Table as a student member of WISE. GridSmartCity is a cooperative of utilities, Smart Grid innovators, industry regulators, government, academia and other electricity industry stakeholders. The partner organizations are committed to work collectively towards productivity and efficiency improvements, advancements in self-healing grids, conservation program implementation, the emergence of renewable energy and community energy planning.

Profs. Jatin Nathwani participated in the International Conference for Sustainable Development which was held at Columbia University, New York City, from Sept 23-24, 2015. 

Profs. Jatin Nathwani, Paul Parker, Ian Rowlands and Olaf Weber travelled to China to make presentations at the International Workshop on the Theories and Practices of Green Growth held between 10-12th April 2015.

Profs. Jatin Nathwani was invited to speak to leading energy access researchers and practitioners at the 4th International Conference on Energy Systems, Environment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ICESEEI '15) where he gave a talk titled - "Innovation Pathways to Deliver Affordable Energy to Humanity". The event was held in Dubai from Feb 22 to 24, 2015.