Development patterns profoundly affect future energy demands. Through Community Energy Planning - by factoring energy use, efficiency and renewable energy into your land-use, transportation, buildings and infrastructure decisions, as well as into your local government operations - your community can reap wide-ranging savings and benefits.
Consider energy in all that you do, and the economic, environmental and social benefits will ripple throughout your community.
On September 24, 2009, Community Energy Association hosted a webinar on Solar BC, providing a program overview to municipalities and sharing the experience of two local governments.
103 local government staff and elected officials registered for the event with over 70 attending.
The presentations are available below.
Below are presentation from the October 30, 2008 webinar on the Community Actions on Energy and Emissions program.
Mike Wilson presented at the 'A Building Revolution' clinic at the Union of BC Municipalities 2008 Conference.
At the June 9, 2008 CEA AGM, Tataina Robertson presented an overview of the key aspects of Bill 27 and helped interpert them for the CEA partners and members.
Tatiana is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Intergovernmental Relations and Planning Division with the Ministry of Community Development.
Also attached is an introduction presentation from CEA to open a webinar on Bill 27 on June 26, 2008.
The following presentations were delivered that the Local Government and Energy Workshop held on May 7, 2008 in Whistler in conjunction with LMLGA.
Dale Littlejohn presented at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference on Sustainable Communities in Ottawa on the topic of Carbon Neutral Operations.
Presentation on Codes, Standards, and Rating Systems for Residential Buildings, as part of the GVRD's Residential Green Building/Development Workshop: Tools for Local Governments.
Urban Form and Energy: Preparing BC communities for the imminent energy and environmental crunch
Mark Allison, MCIP
Senior Planner, City of Surrey
Director, Smart Growth BC
Director, Community Energy Association
Climate Change & Energy Planning Opportunities for Local Governments
Michael Wilson, P.Eng.
Community Energy Association
Presented to:
North Central Municipal Association
May 3, 2007
Communities and Energy Planning for a New Future
Dale Littlejohn
Community Energy Association
Presented to:
OKANAGAN MAINLINE MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION
May 3-4, 2007
Presentations from the "Conversations on Climate Change" series held in the Capital Regional District in Spring 2007.
Action on Climate Change in BC Communities
Laura Porcher, Executive Director
Community Energy Association
Presented to:
Conversations on Climate Change
March 28, 2007
The Role of Energy in Community Planning
Michael Wilson, P.Eng.
Community Energy Association
Presented to:
Planning Institute of BC
April 19, 2007
Policy and Regulatory Instruments to Advance Building Energy Efficiency in BC
Michael Wilson, P.Eng.
Community Energy Association
Taylor Zeeg
Fraser Basin Council
The Role of Energy in Community Planning
Michael Wilson, P.Eng.
Community Energy Association
Presented to:
Building Sustainable Communities
This guide provides an introduction to the wide range of clean energy strategies and green economy opportunities for rural communities in British Columbia. Rural communities can reap substantial benefits by leading the development of clean energy and energy efficiency, helping communities make the transition to a green economy. Primary benefits include:
In addition, these projects can result in significant greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, which support local, provincial and global climate objectives. Clean Energy for a Green Economy is written primarily for local governments and band councils, elected officials and staff, to support an active local government and band role in these initiatives. This guide may also be useful to local economic development officers and others with an interest in clean energy and the green economy
The guide has two sections, with Part One providing a primer on a variety of clean energy strategies and project case studies from communities throughout BC. Part Two includes a framework to get your community to the stage where it can begin to implement a clean energy or energy efficiency project, helping your community to create new employment and business development opportunities, and transition to a green economy.
Renewable, clean electricity will play a key role in the future of power supplies. Globally, 25% of investment in the power sector is fl owing into renewable energy technologies, and this proportion is growing. Local governments in British Columbia have an important role to play in the transition to a clean, renewable electricity system, and in so doing they can bring signifi cant benefi ts to their communities.
Clean Electricity in British Columbia British Columbia's electricity supply is primarily renewable energy from the province's heritage hydroelectric resources. As electricity demand grows, there is a need to supplement that existing resource with additional sources of renewable electricity supply. Recent provincial government policy has created the conditions for local governments to take a role in developing and supporting renewable energy development, by creating opportunitiesfor local governments, individuals and the private sector to develop renewable electricity resources either for their own use or to sell electricity to the power grid.
Renewable Electricity Technologies British Columbia is fortunate to have prodigious clean energy resources. Opportunities likely to be of interest to local governments in British Columbia include:• Small or micro hydroelectric power, including opportunities within municipal water systems• Energy from waste, from anaerobic digestion of organic waste, or gasifi cation• Landfi ll gas utilization• Woodwaste and other biomass sources• Solar photovoltaic power• Small wind power• Fuel cell generation.
Opportunities for Local GovernmentsLocal governments can benefi t by developing renewable electricity resources associated directly with the local government operations. Opportunities include:• Solar photovoltaic panels for street lighting, parking ticket machines and civic buildings• Landfi ll gas utilization projects, such as those generating electricity in Vancouver, the CapitalRegional District and Kelowna• Small or micro hydro power plants, either in local rivers, or within the municipal water supply system, as implemented in the District of West Vancouver. These and other opportunities can provide power for use within local government operations (e.g. through net metering with BC Hydro or Fortis BC), or even to sell (i.e. all the output directly) to BC Hydro or FortisBC. In addition to exploring opportunities for developing their own renewable electricity resources, local governments can provide support to local businesses and residents interested in developing renewable energy. Support can be provided by:• Ensuring local bylaws do not create unnecessary barriers to renewable energy• Promoting renewable energy within new development, using tools such as tax and development cost charge exemptions, density bonuses and development permit checklists• Starting a dialogue with independent power producers, BC Hydro's industrial customers and the community, to explore opportunities for benefi cial and sustainable power projects.
This survey was a follow-up to the 2006 CEA/UBCM/Province local government energy planning survey, with a particular focus on district energy and small-scale power generation. This survey report will provide valuable guidance to the Province and various agencies for shaping future energy support for local governments.
CEA sincerely thanks local governments for having taken the time to complete the survey. The winner of our respondent-draw was Village of Lions Bay; Lions Bay will receive their choice from 3 book prizes on energy sustainability. Congratulations!
Comments or questions about the survey report, may be directed to Jim Ciccateri at MEMPR or Peter Robinson, CEA.
Heating Our Communities is one module of the Community Energy Association's Renewable Energy Guide for Local Governments in British Columbia. Other modules of this guide include:
Heating Our Communities has been written for local government elected officials and staff interested in encouraging the use of renewable sources of energy for heating in communities. The information applies to both communities at-large and to local government operations.
Utilities and Financing is a module of the Community Energy Association's Renewable Energy Guide for Local Governments in British Columbia. Other modules of this guide include:
Utilities and Financing has been written for local government elected offi cials and staff interested in developing renewable energy projects and utilities in their communities. Local governments around the world have been leaders in tackling climate change by promoting renewable energy at the community level, with innovative policies and programs that have made national-level impacts on energy policy. Local governments are ideally placed to champion renewable energy. Opportunities outlined in this guide include:
Attached is CEA's Case Study Guide which provides an overview of key local government case studies.
Energy Efficiency & Buildings is a product of the Community Action on Energy and Emissions initiative (CAEE), developed in partnership with the Community Energy Association.
Energy Efficiency & Buildings is intended to provide BC local governments with information about and practical examples of useful tools in energy efficiency planning, including:
REVISED and UPDATED for 2009.
On April 25, 2007 CEA and Sustainability Solutions Group organized the "Empowering Community - Making Neighborhood Level Renewable Energy a Reality" workshop. The documents attached are the results of that effort.
The workshop explores microgeneration technologies, barriers, actions that local governments can take, and innovative approaches globally to accelerating microgeneration.
"A Tool Kit for Community Energy Planning in BC" was first produced by the Community Energy Association in April 1997. Published originally as a three-ring binder, the Tool Kit quickly established itself both as a widely used practical resource and a frequently cited academic reference.
In this second edition, the Tool Kit has been updated and expanded to reflect the issues, case studies and experiences of community energy planning in BC in 2000 and beyond. The Tool Kit has been transformed from its original binder format into this Internet resource and corresponding folder package, available from the Community Energy Association. The folder package contains a condensed version of the Tool Kit, the contents of which can be targeted to particular audience needs.
This Tool Kit is written primarily for local elected officials, municipal and regional planners and engineers, real estate developers, as well as anyone interested in community sustainability and energy opportunities. It will also be a valuable resource for residents and community associations, chambers of commerce, gas and electric utilities, independent power producers, planning and development consultants, architects and homebuilders. In addition, the Kit has an important message for provincial ministries and agencies, including the B.C. Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the Ministry of Employment and Investment, the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, and BC Transit.
The objectives of the Tool Kit are:
This Toolkit was written and developed as an internet resource by Lee Failing and Graham Long of Compass Resource Management Ltd and Michael Margolick of ARA Consulting.
The full toolkit is attached below as a series of PDF files.The Community Energy Association is pleased to announce the 2011 release of Funding Your Community Energy and Climate Change Initiatives -- a guide to funding and resources for local governments.
This guide for BC local governments is divided into two parts: a Funding Guide and a Resource Guide.
Check out the back page for "Steps to a Winning Grant Application."
For questions or further information about this guide please contact Patricia Bell (contact info is available on the contact page - click 'contact' at the top of this screen).
There are many strategies to choose from when considering how to finance energy-related initiatives in your community, several of the options are outlined below.
A joint venture involves partnerships, either in financing or implementation or both
These can be either across departments within a government, or across levels of government. Partnerships may involve giving budgetary recognition to non-energy capital and operating cost savings that result from energy efficiency. For example, low-flow showerheads reduce energy bills, but also save on expenditures for new water supply and treatment infrastructure. If all departments calculate their collective energy bills, and collaborate to figure out what energy conservation measures will mean to water and wastewater costs, then joint planning and financing opportunities may emerge.
Local governments often rely on private capital to achieve economies that taxpayers and internal and intergovernmental barriers won't let them exploit. If up-front costs are a barrier to a project that generates an acceptable rate of return in the long term, look for private investors that may have an interest in the project. Offset funding may be an option. Some utilities, agencies or industries are required by law to meet certain standards (such as environmental or efficiency standards). If a municipality has lower-cost options for meeting these targets, they may be able to implement programs in exchange for funding assistance. For example, instead of costly upgrades to air pollution equipment at generation facilities, a utility might fund a van pooling program to achieve the same reduction in air emissions at lower cost (see inset).
While joint ventures imply shared responsibility for implementation, third party financing means bringing in an external party simply to pay up-front costs. There are a number of players that could be involved.
Energy Service Companies, or ESCO's, are private firms that offer technical and financing services for energy supply and efficiency investments. ESCo's are a large and growing business in North America. They can put up the up-front money and split the annual energy savings with the government. In this way, operating expenditures savings are "capitalized". The local economy can even benefit from having government pay for ESCO services in the design of infrastructure, sharing in the capital cost savings inherent in energy-efficient design.
Many banks, trust companies and credit unions are starting to develop energy efficiency-related financial services.
This is a rental agreement in which an Energy Service Company or utility rents equipment, and perhaps related services, to the municipality. At the end of the lease, the municipality can buy the equipment at a nominal cost.
User fees, surcharges and surtaxes are often considered as merely a means of recovering costs. However, they can also be designed to create incentives for preferred activities. Most public opposition to additional charges can be alleviated by designing them to be revenue-neutral and keeping the costs and benefits within the same sector or user group. For example, Ontario's "feebate" system uses surcharges on inefficient cars to finance refunds to buyers of efficient cars.
These are explicit charges by the municipality or region that serve both to cover the up-front costs of servicing new growth, and, if properly designed, to encourage preferred patterns of development (see Part II, Energy Ideas for Municipal and Regional Infrastructure and Facilities).
An important long term energy efficiency investment is the geographic "de-averaging" of property tax rates. From sewer lines to bus routes, the costs of providing services to low-density neighbourhoods are higher than for dense ones. But they're buried in uniform taxes. Besides improving efficiency, charging homes and businesses in proportion to the costs they incur will help to re-vitalize core areas.
Profit and budget control are powerful forces: if an energy efficiency measure makes or saves money, there must be a way to finance it. The challenges are measuring the savings properly and creating incentives for working together.
Under various programs, it is possible to gain credit for greenhouse gas offsets. The key to receiving recognition for emission reductions is to clearly quantify and document how and why greenhouse gases have been reduced as a result of undertaking an action.
Some of the cost-sharing opportunities include:
CEP works best with an enterprising local government. For example, the City of Portland found out it had 830 electricity, natural gas and transportation fuel accounts among 8 bureaus, adding up to a $9 million bill annually. Seeing an opportunity, it then created a mini-business inside its own bureaucracy, seeded by a 1% assessment on the energy bill of each department -- $90,000. The Portland Energy Office gave back free energy audits and advice to each department and split the savings from bill reductions with them. In three years the city saved over $600,000.
The Portland Energy Office leverages $4 in grants and contracts and more than $13 in private energy efficiency investments for every $1 of its own expenditure.
For smaller municipalities, this may be the key to tapping large pools of private capital. Financial aggregation refers to municipalities grouping energy efficiency projects together to increase the size of the transaction in order to attract investors. Larger deals take the same amount of staff expertise and time to process, but create larger profits for investors