With hot summers and cold winters requiring considerable energy for cooling and heating, water and wastewater pumping power needs aggravated by steep topography, and heavy reliance on the personal automobile resulting from dispersed development patterns, Kamloops has always had much to gain from proactive energy planning.
Throughout most of the 1990s, the City enjoyed significant economic and population growth, and liveability issues became a concern. As the time came to develop a new Official Community Plan (OCP), these factors were projected to continue well into the future.
In 1996, the City of Kamloops won a bid for considerable funding from the Community Energy Association to develop a community energy plan (CEP). The City's bid was successful for several reasons including:
- the City's energy consumption patterns pointed to a substantial potential for energy savings;
- the City's recent record for implementing innovative environmental programs;
- the City's OCP was due to be renewed and could be co-developed and integrated with the CEP.
The CEP development process included:
- developing energy-related objectives for the City that would help to meet the community objectives of the existing and developing OCPs;
- identifying strategies for achieving these energy objectives and supporting broader community goals;
- establishing the City's approximate baseline energy use;
- using a computer model, evaluating the energy implications of alternative development scenarios for the OCP process; and
- developing an action plan to meet the energy objectives, and establishing monitoring and management protocols to evaluate the actions and to ensure the continued relevance of the plan.
The OCP, "Kamplan 1997", was developed alongside the CEP and published shortly after. The energy policies identified by the CEP are reproduced as a separate chapter in the OCP. In addition, the OCP includes the following key planning goals, all of which are consistent with sound energy management:
- encouraging infill and intensification;
- discouraging urban sprawl;
- guiding new development to cost-effective and pre-serviced growth areas;
- bringing shopping, work and home closer together;
- encouraging a mix of housing types and density in old and new neighbourhoods; and
- encouraging alternate transportation systems, including walkways, transit, bike paths and ride sharing
(Source: City of Kamloops)
From the start of the CEP project, a community energy planning stakeholder group helped to guide its development. Stakeholders included a broad cross-section of energy utilities, provincial ministries, City staff and school board, business and industrial representatives.
The starting point for the energy plan was a review of the community's objectives as stated in the existing and developing OCPs. The stakeholder group established energy-related objectives to support these broader community goals.
GIS (geographic information system) modeling established the baseline energy use of both the City as a whole and of a typical subdivision zoned for future development. The City modeled various development scenarios to judge the effects of major planning decisions on the area in terms of cost and environmental and social impacts. It also compared various "neighbourhood" subdivision development scenarios.
After detailed modeling and evaluation by the project consultants and City staff, stakeholders participated in a workshop to select a preferred development scenario from an energy perspective, and to screen and prioritize CEP action items.
The next page details the major features of the CEP.
