MUNICIPAL ENERGY OFFICES

Municipalities operate administrative buildings, clinics, childcare centres, housing, retirement facilities, recycling and waste disposal, water and wastewater pumping and treatment facilities, traffic signals, streetlights, and numerous other facilities. LAS estimates this energy spend to total more than $955 million per year--$680 million on electricity and $275 million on natural gas. It is no surprise then that an ever increasing number of Ontario municipalities are establishing Energy Conservation offices to help them manage the economic, environmental, and social impacts of their energy use.  The following list of such offices is provided to help share good practices and as a resource for those municipalities considering developing their own conservation office. Please email Scott Vokey (SVokey@amo.on.ca ) if your municipality would also like to be profiled here.

• City of Hamilton’s Office of Energy Initiatives - Contains the City’s energy policy that calls for targeted energy reductions in energy intensity of City-owned facilities and operations of 20 per cent by 2020.
   
• City of Thunder Bay Administrative Services Division - Provides budget administration and cost allocation systems for comprehensive asset and energy management of facilities and fleet to support program/service delivery.
   

• County of Frontenac Clear breakdown of all projects and key indicators in the Energy Section of the County’s sustainability plan.  

• Region of Durham Energy Efficiency - Through the Community Strategic Plan, the Region of Durham has committed itself to reducing energy consumption and becoming actively involved in energy-efficiency management.
   
• Region of Niagara Energy Management - This new area of the Corporate Services Department is currently designing a corporate energy management strategy to facilitate cost savings and efficiencies in regional facilities.
   
• Region of Peel Corporate Energy Management - The CEM is a division within the Finance department that manages the Region's energy portfolio in an economical and sustainable manner.
   
• Region of Waterloo Energy Conservation Office -The Corporate Energy Conservation Office is housed within the Facilities Management division and is funded largely from annual energy savings achieved over the last few years.
   
• The OPA’s Conservation Bureau  - Has some resources for municipal staff tasked with energy conservation under its Municipal Energy Conservation Officer (MECO) initiative.
   
• Town of Markham Energy Conservation Office - The Markham Energy Conservation Office was established in 2005. The link will provide more information on its mandate and activities.
   
• Town of Richmond Hill Energy Management Plan - Link to the PDF of the 2008 Corporate Energy Management Plan for the town’s 60 facilities.
    

• Town of Caledon’s Corporate Energy Management Plan
    

 

COMMUNITY FOCUSED INITIATIVES
  

• Efficient Sudbury - A community-based program designed to increase awareness of energy efficient products, and encourage homeowners to consider ENERGY STAR® qualified products.
  
• Oakville Conserves - An energy conservation awareness program designed to build community capacity and enhance the knowledge of Oakville residents and small business owners.