(August 25, 2026)

By Jean Todea, Senior Communications Lead

Over the past few weeks, we've covered the results of the GHG Protocol's Scope 2 consultation, from the broad support for a legacy clause to the feasibility concerns raised over hourly matching. This week, we turn to the second proposal that matters most for how you procure renewable energy in Canada: deliverability, or geographic matching.

Deliverability would strengthen the connection between the renewable electricity you purchase and the market where that electricity is consumed. 

Fifty nine per cent of respondents expressed no or low support, while 30 per cent supported the change. Limited support was concentrated in Eastern Asia and Northern America, and came mostly from companies, industry groups, energy suppliers and retailers, financial institutions and international agencies.

Supporters argue that stronger deliverability requirements would improve the credibility of market-based Scope 2 claims by ensuring that purchases are physically connected to the systems serving corporate operations and by directing procurement toward the grids where demand occurs. Critics counter that strict requirements may not reflect the realities of interconnected grids, regional power markets or jurisdictions where market boundaries do not line up with corporate operations. Several respondents noted that investing in renewable energy in higher-emitting markets can sometimes deliver greater emissions reductions than investing where grids are already decarbonizing quickly. Stakeholders from Africa and Southeast Asia raised concerns that overly restrictive requirements could divert investment from regions where clean energy development and energy access are most needed.

This pattern holds close to home. Alberta is one of the few provinces that enable corporate renewable procurement, so restricting deliverability to the provincial level could limit the emissions reductions available to your organization if you have operations outside Alberta, particularly given that only 1.4 gigawatts of the 7.7 gigawatts of corporate renewable energy demand in Canada comes from companies operating in Alberta. In other words, most of the country's corporate clean-energy ambition lies outside the one province where deliverability would be easiest to prove.

As with hourly matching, respondents pointed to regional flexibility, tied to an assessment of market maturity as the most workable compromise, a position we share.

Together, the feedback on hourly matching and deliverability tells a consistent story: stakeholders want the market-based method to move toward greater rigour, but not at a pace or in a form that outruns the markets it's meant to serve. We'll keep you posted as the Technical Working Group's next round of work takes shape, ahead of the Q2 2027 consultation.