By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press
Though the Town of Essex has been able to improve its energy consumption and reduce its Greenhouse Gas Emissions over the past five-years, Essex Council was urged to look for ways to reduce fossil fuel use from a long-term planning standpoint.
Andrea Dwight, President of Blue Sky Energy Engineering and Consulting Inc., presented the most recent Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan to Essex Council at the November 18 meeting. Dwight worked with Town of Essex staff over the past few months to complete the Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan, which sets out a path towards a more energy-efficient future.
The scope of work includes all Town-owned facilities requiring heat, corporate facilities, wastewater treatment plants, and street-lighting.
This plan is legislatively required under the Provincial Electricity Act and lays out the foundation for energy conservation at the Town of Essex for the next five-years.
Dwight noted it is important to celebrate the hard work the Town has done over the past-five years in this work.
There is a list of programs she said impacted energy and heat consumption, such as changing and upgrading lighting and HVAC systems. This resulted in a 1.5% improvement in energy compared to 2019, and a 2.5% reduction to Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Since 2011, overall Greenhouse Gas Emissions have dropped, so has electricity consumption. The Town is proud to have achieved a 13% reduction in electricity between 2011 and 2023, excluding street-lighting, the report details. Natural gas consumption, however, has risen by 4.6% over the same period.
Combining electricity and natural gas, these changes have resulted in an overall energy reduction of close to 7% and a 44.5% reduction in GHG emissions over the twelve-year period, the report adds.
In addition, electricity consumption on street-lighting has dropped 18%, Dwight told Council.
The Essex Centre Sports Complex and Harrow Arena, street-lighting, and sewage treatment plant are the largest electricity consumers. In addition, both arenas are the largest natural gas consumers.
In 2023, Dwight highlighted that Essex’s natural gas use was 37% and electricity was 63%. Yet, natural gas is responsible for 78% of its Greenhouse Gas Emissions. As the Town of Essex renvisions climate planning, Dwight suggested looking for ways to reduce fossil fuel use from a long-term planning standpoint. Without reducing natural gas usage, the Town will not be able to significantly improve Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Looking ahead, a 3% reduction in overall energy is targeted for 2029 as measured against the 2023 figures.
“Although it sounds like a small number, it is actually quite significant,” Dwight told Council, adding a number of great programs have been developed to make sure this goal is achieved. The Town, she added, has a number of strategic planning priorities in which to focus over the next-five years, including the Town leveraging all incentive opportunities from the Federal Government and local utilities to make technological improvements. Another is to look at the asset management and capital planning process and put in guidelines regarding energy efficient purchasing of larger capital projects.
Actions set in the Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan include identifying energy-savings opportunities, and putting in place a planning process that reviews facilities and delivering cost-savings through the identification and implementation of programs, processes, and projects on an ongoing basis. Another priority is communication, training, and outreach.
The action plan also includes a set of specific projects pulled together over the next five-years to make a significant improvement to energy consumption. That varies from lighting upgrades, to HVAC, to controls. She also spoke of the Town needing to think about what natural gas reduction strategy it would like to have to integrated into the capital project process.
“I think you are very well positioned to make a significant improvement in both GHGs and energy consumption over the next five-years,” Dwight said. “I think this shows your corporate responsibility and your focus on helping make sure the environment is at the forefront. I think that this is a very strong plan.”
Seeing as the twin pads at the Essex Arena use the most energy, Councillor Katie McGuire-Blais asked what could be further done to reduce that footprint beyond what was suggested in the report.
Director of Community Services, Jake Morassut, noted the twin pads have had a significant number of projects on the compressor system over the past five-years. The energy usage for the facility comes from the compressor plants, for which none of its major components should need replacing in the next-five years. So, that will likely be part of the next five-year plan.
Through the Plan, the focus was on things that could be controlled over the next-five years, with the funding models and resources in place, he added. That included upgrading to LED lighting, which saves on energy and maintenance cost.
In addition, LEDs have a longer lifecycle, Morassut said.
“We are looking at projects like that where we are going to see a bigger impact and a quicker payback period,” he added.
Though it is great to see what Essex is doing, Mayor Sherry Bondy asked about comparing the local town to others.
Dwight noted there are ways to benchmark that information, such as how Essex’s largest facilities are doing compared to similar ones across the province.
Council received the Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan.