South Frontenac Council - Jan 22/09

Jeff Green | Jan 27, 2009

Energy matters dominate quiet meeting

Meeting for the second week in a row, South Frontenac Council had very little business to attend to other than considering an Official Plan amendment and a road closing application in the public meeting portion of the agenda.

In terms of regular business, the only issues of consequence were two proposals by the Chief Building Official, Alan Revill, regarding energy use.

In a report, Revill proposed that the township join a bulk energy buying co-op called Local Authority Services (LAS) which is a subsidiary of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Joining LAS would protect the township from the impacts of changes to energy pricing that are coming on stream on May 1 of this year.

As of that date, Revill wrote, “Ontario municipalities will no longer be protected by energy price regulation and will be subject to hourly pricing based on time of day consumption.” By contracting with LAS, the township could see lower bills, and would be able to accurately budget for the cost of power because the price would be fixed. In order to join the program the township would be required to have a load profile done by LAS at a cost of $750.

Chief Administrative Officer Gord Burns said that he had “signed up to LAS many years ago with another municipality and each year we ended up saving money.”

Council considered a motion to pay for the $750 load profile and sign on for the next available bulk purchase with LAS.

“I agree with the load profile but I think we shouldn’t sign up unless the load profile shows that it is in our interest,” said Councillor Ron Vandewal.

The motion was approved, with Vandewal casting a dissenting vote.

LED light bulbs – Revill informed Council, again through a written report, that he is going ahead with switching to 1 watt LED bulbs from 15 watt incandescent bulbs in the exit signs at all township buildings, including fire halls. The up front cost of the LED bulbs is $12, but the energy savings are significant.

Revill reported that there is a “payback period of 8 months” on the $12 purchase of the bulbs, “so the savings in the first year will be modest.”

The LED bulbs are projected to last 11.4 years, but that timeframe has not been tested. Even if the bulbs only last 5.5 years, the energy savings for the 16 bulbs in the Sydenham office alone would be over $1,400.

Not bad for an investment of $192.