Generators are centralized from the national level and so rural communities are not built into the larger scheme.  There is a disconnect between generators and consumers.  Most of their mandates come from the provincial government and then energy is delegated to the city.  Top-Down approach.

Industries are the largest consumers of heat so it is a serious challenge to bring industry, residential, and corporate entities together when the consumption is varied.

              -Geothermal is a great opportunity but geographically specific.

              -Heat pumps are being used in new building areas for shallow-ground heat pumps

Concentrated solar power can help a lot in the manufacturer’s use of the heating, thus curtailing some of this extensive energy use.  This may be the final step before renewables.

Within cities, a lot of multinational companies provide innovative solutions, for example 100’s of building within certain districts were updated with solar panels and solar water heaters and this represents a scalable model.

Cities do the best work when they are able to shape policies based on what has been effective in other cities/regions that have a similar regulatory framework.