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Alert @3.40 Feb 11

nicholas.chambers@ghd.com

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Energy Management Plan

The City of St. Catharines' Corporate Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan (CDMP) details our progress toward meeting our designated energy conservation goals and our plans to reduce energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across corporate operations, specifically towards facilities and buildings owned and operated by the City, for the next five years (2024 – 2028).

The City has committed to conducting business more sustainably with energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable resources top of mind. The City is committed to improving its environmental and economic performance while maintaining and improving service delivery.

Goals and objectives

Investing in energy management and implementing the actions identified within this Plan will provide valuable opportunities for the City including reduced energy costs and GHG emissions. To achieve this, the City needs to continue to instill a deep culture of energy conservation into the decision-making process, to engage and empower staff, lower energy cost risk exposure, and demonstrate leadership.

  • The objectives of the City’s CDMP are to achieve the following:
    • Assess the progress the City has made in the last five years under the previous CDMP;
    • Evaluate a suite of measures to help achieve the targets; and
    • Reaffirm the City’s long-term energy goals and targets.

Corporate GHG emission reductions

The Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan includes a 45 per cent reduction in corporate GHG emission levels by 2030, compared to the baseline of 2011. The Plan also sets a long-term goal of net-zero by 2050 for the City’s municipal emissions.

This target is more ambitious than the Province of Ontario's Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan, which commits to reducing emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. It aligns with Canada's commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to reduce GHG emissions.

Progress from 2019 to 2023

  • The City’s building energy consumption has decreased by 11% from 2019 to 2023. The amount of GHG emissions from buildings has decreased by 20% due to the significant decrease in usage of natural gas.
  • Since 2019, total GHG emissions from facilities have decreased by 899 tonnes of CO2e.
  • Project highlights include LED lighting retrofits of two large facilities, the Meridian Centre rink lighting, as well as Seymour Hannah Arena rink lighting. The Meridian Centre lighting completed in 2020 offers a variety of benefits such as energy savings of 340,000 kWh, which is roughly equivalent of 35 single family homes. Other benefits include operational and maintenance cost savings, as well as an attractive venue for light and colour customization for various user groups or entertainment purposes.
  • The City has implemented a Green Reserve Fund in 2021, with the purpose of the funds to be used for energy projects. The City has also utilized and been successful in various funding opportunities to help support reducing GHG emissions.

Previous Plans

The City’s previous Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan was set out for the time frame of 2019 – 2024. The Plan reports on energy consumption and GHG emissions for the following corporate operations, including:
  • The facilities and buildings owned and operated by the City
  • Water distribution, wastewater collection, storage facilities and operations
  • Street lighting
  • Fleet vehicles
  • Equipment

Progress to 2019

  • In 2019, St. Catharines achieved a reduction in GHG emission intensity by 25 per cent since 2011 and the City reduced it annual energy consumption by over 7.5 million kilowatt hours of energy. That's the equivalent to the annual energy savings of approximately 800 households.
  • Additionally, we completed the LED Street Light Conversion Project in 2018, which has reduced annual energy costs by 62 per cent. We also completed lighting upgrades to the Seymour Hannah Sports Complex in 2014, which reduced the building's energy consumption by 67 per cent.
  • In October 2018, staff partnered with Alectra Utilities and installed an electric vehicle charging station outside of City Hall. Eighteen more stations will be installed at City-owned properties across the community in partnership with Alectra Energy Services, with support from the federal government's Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure program.

The City's first Energy Management Plan was developed in 2014. The plan and GHG emission reporting, included below, outline the amount of energy used by City facilities at the time: