A new Ipsos poll suggests most British Columbians favour greater flexibility in home heating and the province's zero-emission vehicle requirements.
The survey, commissioned by the Energy Futures Institute and conducted from Sept. 8 to 14, found 61% support allowing builders to choose electricity, natural gas, or a combination of both for heating new homes and commercial buildings. Another 20% opposed the idea.
Support crossed political lines, with 62% of BC NDP supporters, 65% of Green supporters, and 72% of Conservative supporters favouring heating choice.
“What’s particularly noteworthy is that a majority of supporters of every major provincial party favour heating choice,” said Barry Penner, chair of the Energy Futures Institute and a former BC Liberal cabinet minister.
Under BC's CleanBC framework, the province has set a goal for all new buildings to achieve zero operational carbon emissions by 2030.
The province's Zero Carbon Step Code allows local governments to introduce stricter emissions requirements for new construction, which the Energy Futures Institute argues could limit conventional natural gas and hybrid heating systems.
The institute points to BC Hydro analysis suggesting Lower Mainland homes with dual-fuel systems, combining electric heat pumps and natural gas furnaces, have approximately 75% lower winter peak electricity demand than homes relying entirely on electric heat pumps.
“This is about affordability as well as consumer choice,” Penner said. “If government policies require more homes to depend entirely on electricity on the coldest winter days, BC Hydro will face even greater pressure to borrow and spend billions of dollars expanding its electricity system.”
University of Victoria research also estimates hybrid heating could avoid up to 1,400 megawatts of additional electricity capacity needs in the Lower Mainland by 2050.
The poll also found 70% support allowing conventional hybrid vehicles to count at least partially toward BC's zero-emission vehicle sales requirements, compared with 14% opposed.
Unlike plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles, conventional hybrids do not currently qualify toward automakers' zero-emission vehicle sales targets.
The province's mandate sets a 26% sales compliance target for the 2026 model year, increasing to 75% by 2035.
Asked which vehicle they would most likely purchase next, 14% selected a fully electric vehicle, 15% a plug-in hybrid, 11% a conventional hybrid, and 27% a gasoline or diesel vehicle.
“British Columbians clearly want options when it comes to which vehicles they drive,” Penner said.
The findings come as BC's political parties campaign ahead of the October 24 provincial election, with energy policy, affordability and the cost of living among the issues facing voters.
The Energy Futures Institute, established by Resource Works in 2023, advocates for what it describes as pragmatic, evidence-based energy and environmental policy.
The Ipsos survey was conducted online among 800 adult British Columbians and weighted by region, age, gender, and education to reflect census proportions. Ipsos reported a credibility interval of plus or minus four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
