Canada is home to 210 remote communities located in nearly every province and territory in the country. These communities rely heavily on diesel fuel for heat and electricity.
Our research tracks diesel reduction in these communities and provides governments, policy makers, and media with credible information about the role clean energy is playing to address this long-standing challenge.
Remote communities are in the midst of their most significant energy transition since the introduction of diesel generators in the mid-twentieth century.
Our most recent analysis, published in 2026, provides an overview of the past decade of clean energy deployment and diesel reduction and highlights the impact of policy and local, Indigenous leadership since 2016.
Read the reportThe Pembina Institute is one of few organizations focused on the clean energy transition in remote and northern communities. Diesel reduction progress is a flagship and ongoing research effort that supports this work.
Through this research effort, we gather cumulative data on diesel reduction and clean energy development to better understand how energy is evolving at the local level. We have released two volumes of this work focused on clean energy progress since 2015.
Reports:
Diesel Reduction Progress is Canada’s most comprehensive body of research on diesel reduction efforts in remote communities. It provides unique and credible analysis at a nation-wide scale and is designed to tell the story of evolving remote energy systems.
We do this work by tracking the impact and nature of government policy and local leadership. This has helped spur action, reform, and necessary discussion and focus on the part of communities, governments, and industry.
Our research draws on publicly available data provided by a range of academic, government, and industry sources.
We also work in partnership with communities, governments, and other credible sources to provide a comprehensive analysis on remote energy systems.
Lynne Couves
c: 403-483-3850
e: lynnec@pembina.org
Bhan Gatkuoth (Mountain Time)
c: 587-742-0818
e: bhang@pembina.org
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