Once thought to be on the chopping block, the city’s 10-year-old Community Energy Initiative is set to be updated and backed by newly-announced federal infrastructure dollars.
The Community Energy Initiative (CEI) was created 10 years ago in an effort by the municipality to consume less energy than it was using in 2007 by the year 2032, even as the city planned to grow by 50 per cent over that time period.
Lloyd Longfield, MP for Guelph, said other municipalities across the country are just starting to catch up to Guelph’s lead on making commitments to set targets for energy conservation in response to Canada’s signing of the Paris Accord in 2015.
Canada has committed by the year 2030 to reducing its emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels.
“We have international commitments now and we can show examples like Guelph as a community that is on the forefront,” said Longfield.
On Friday, Longfield announced a commitment of $175,000 toward the update to the CEI — part of $6.8 million being delivered to 97 communities across Canada through the federal Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program.
By helping municipalities to make informed infrastructure investment, said Longfield, future infrastructure dollars can go further and be more efficient.
“We already have traction in Guelph, this will just help move the bar up a little bit,” said Longfield.
Now at its 10 year mark, Guthrie said it is time to update the CEI using metrics, measurement and accountability.
“The original targets made in 2007 are not going to be achievable. They were more lofty visionary types of goals but had no means of being able to achieve them,” said Guthrie.
The updates to the CEI will be made with community stakeholder engagement, not through a top-down approach, said Guthrie.
Climate change is having a definite effect on the infrastructure needs of the city, said Guthrie, and the funding announced today will help ensure those needed upgrades are planned wisely.
Scott Stewart, deputy CAO in charge of Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise, said the city is currently in need of about $10 million in storm sewer upgrades, which is just a fraction of Guelph’s $490.7-million infrastructure backlog.
The update to the CEI will set greenhouse gas reduction targets and establish an implementation plan to archive them.
With that information in hand, said Stewart, the city can more effectively spend future infrastructure dollars in line with the goals of the updated CEI.
“It will allow us to be fiscally prudent when we have to spend the large dollars because it will focus our attention on where we should be spending those dollars and help us prioritize,” said Scott.
In March, the city parted ways with Rob Kerr, Manager of Community Energy.
Kerr had been integral to the creation and implementation of the CEI, said a release by the city at the time.
In July of 2016, city council voted to cease spending money on the district energy initiative — which cost the city approximately $14 million up to that point.
