Energy Conservation Plan

The Township of Champlain continues to make all reasonable efforts to improve its energy management plan and program to reduce its impact on the environment as required under the Electricity Act, 1998 and Regulation 507/18 Public Sector Energy Reporting Conservation Demand Management Plans Act.

Staff and Council will ensure that the objectives presented in this plan are achieved and that progress towards those objectives is monitored on an ongoing basis. Staff and Council will update the plan as required under the above Act and regulation or any subsequent legislation.

The Township of Champlain's will continue with its vision of becoming an environmentally sustainable community. To this end, it is looking to reduce its total energy consumption and mitigating costs through the wise use of energy, while maintaining an efficient and effective level of service to the public. Wherever possible, the Township will endeavor to increase the awareness and understanding of energy management within the Corporation.

Policy

The Township of Champlain will endeavor to incorporate energy efficiency into all areas of our activities including our organizational and human resources management procedures, procurement practices, financial management and investment decisions, and facility operations and maintenance. As a major component of the operating costs of municipal facilities and equipment, energy costs are factored into the lifecycle cost analysis and asset management analyses and policies of the municipality.

Overall Target

The key to a successful long-term conservation vision is a strong Energy Policy with measurable and achievable targets. This policy calls for targeted energy reductions in energy usable by the Township owned facilities and operations on a continuous basis. Success will be measured by comparing consumption on a year-to-year basis. It is important to note that we must consider growth when calculating consumption.

Municipal Energy Situation

Our assessment of organizational capacity for energy management with respect to energy policy indicates the following issues:

• Energy use and costs continue to increase and are forecast to further increase;
•  Occasional efforts are made to raise general staff awareness concerning energy;
• Additional municipal responsibilities and services have had an important impact on existing facilities’ energy consumption;
• The need to be vigilant in our ongoing search for energy saving solutions that match our various operational requirements.

How We Manage Energy Today

The management of the Township of Champlain’s energy is a combination of energy data management, energy supply management and energy use management.

Our municipal energy is supplied via a number of providers: Electricity is supplied by Hydro One and natural gas by Enbridge Gas on an as need basis and is priced at the standard rates offered by the provider.

Summary of Current Energy Consumption, Cost and GHGs

The Township’s current energy usage is detailed in our latest Energy Consumption and Green House Gas Emissions Report for 2017. Our energy usage is updated once a year in the Energy Planning Tool (EPT) and reported annually to the Ministry of Energy.

As an integral component of the management structure, the Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan will be coordinated with:

•  The municipality’s budget planning process;
•  The purchasing policy;
•  The policy development process as a whole.

Energy Leader

The CAO, in concert with the department heads assumes the overall leadership and responsibility for corporate energy management. Conceptualization of all projects will include energy savings as a leading requirement.

Internal Resources

The Township of Champlain will develop criteria for determining whether internal resources can be utilized for the implementation of energy projects.

Energy Training

The Township of Champlain will do its best to develop and deliver energy training for all relevant staff and Council members. The training will focus on the energy use and conservation opportunities associated with employees’ job functions and will be utilized whenever possible.

Municipal Level

Since all employees use energy in the course of their work day, all staff will share the responsibility of being aware of their energy use and will work towards a culture of conservation. Awareness of energy conservation issues and new initiatives will be passed on to staff via training, seminars and webinars. This will allow staff to see the results of their efforts and encourage them to bring forward any energy conservation ideas.

Asset Level

In order to sustain a corporate culture of conservation, staff must be engaged in an effective awareness and education program. The first step in the continuation of our energy management program will be by conducting regular cost/consumption audits of the various energy products used by the municipality. Staff is then encouraged to seek out energy conservation opportunities.

Another important component of our energy management program is ongoing facilities maintenance and renovations. Any major maintenance program or renovation project will be required to take into account any possible energy conservation programs, technologies and best practices.

As the use of renewable energy measures can help reduce overall corporate greenhouse gas emissions, the investment for these types of measures can be significantly greater than conservation initiatives and therefore, should be considered on a case-by-case basis through a cost and environmental benefits analysis. It is acknowledged that the use of technologies such as wind, solar and geothermal can show community leadership and help raise awareness of the benefits of utilizing renewable energy. To this end, Township management will put forward to Council, for approval, any suitable renewable energy program or technologies as they become known

Energy Plan Review

As part of any energy management strategy, continuous monitoring, verification, and reporting is an essential tool to track consumption and dollar savings and/or avoidance as the result of implemented initiatives. The Township of Champlain staff will develop an annual progress report with the energy consumption data and will report to Council any progress that is achieved. Our annual Energy Planning Tool (EPT) report to the Province will be our overall tool for energy awareness.

Energy Consumption

The Township of Champlain will review and evaluate its energy plan, as necessary, on an annual basis as based on the Energy Consumption Reports submitted to the Ministry of Energy as required under the Electricity Act and Regulation 507/18.

Green House Gas Emissions

Governments at all levels are moving to address emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), in light of scientific evidence on how human activities are affecting the world’s climate. For more information on this science, see http://www.ipcc.ch/ .

 The combustion of fossil fuels in buildings is a major source of GHG emissions that fall under local government influence. Municipalities can lower emissions by improving energy efficiency of buildings and using more renewable energy.

The Township of Champlain is committed to both objectives through the development and implementation of this Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan (CDM). On an ongoing basis, we will continue to track and report on GHGs as part of our regular reporting on energy consumption and will evaluate progress in this area against our overall reduction target.

Programs

Projects

Other projects will be added as the Township looks into the different areas where energy savings can occur.