The City of St. Catharines' Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan details our progress toward meeting our designated energy conservation goals and our plans to reduce energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across corporate operations, including:
The plan guides our efforts in conducting business more sustainably, with energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable resources always top-of-mind.
The Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan is designed to:
The Energy and Conservation Demand Management Plan includes a 40 per cent decrease in corporate GHG emission levels by 2030, compared to the baseline levels set in 2011.
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.
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 and previous Energy Management Plan was developed in 2014. The plan and GHG emission reporting documents below outline the amount of energy used by City facilities at the time: