FCM’s Green Municipal Fund Commits $40,000 to the County of Huron to Study Wind Energy for Municipal Buildings

June 04, 2009

Thursday, June 4, 2009, Goderich, ON – Jean Perrault, President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Mayor of Sherbrooke, Que. and Ben Lobb, MP for Huron – Bruce, on behalf of the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, announced today a $40,000 Green Municipal Fund (GMF) grant for the County of Huron. The County is using the grant to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the potential for wind energy generation and net metering for three county-owned facilities.

“FCM’s Green Municipal Fund offers a range of resources and services that specifically address the sustainable community development needs of municipal governments,” said Perrault. “The financing and knowledge provided by the Fund supports the development of communities that are more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.”

“Our government is assisting municipalities across the country in achieving their goal of a cleaner and healthier environment for Canadians through the Green Municipal Fund,” said Mr. Lobb. ”Today’s announcement is another example of how the Government of Canada – in partnership with the FCM – is helping the County of Huron build a greener future for our citizens.”

The County of Huron has undertaken a thorough study to fully assess the feasibility and potential for return-on-investment of a wind energy implementation to power three of its county-owned facilities. There are five main components of the study: an audit of existing electrical consumption; a conservation strategy to reduce electrical demand; 12 months of meteorological testing to collect and interpret wind and climatological data; a feasibililty study using RETScreen® to evaluate technical, economic and environmental data related to installating and operating a 250 kW wind generator; and, a preliminary environmental scan to identify potential issues and mitigations. Included in the feasibility study will be a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of a net-metering proposition. The County of Huron estimates that the energy efficiency measures and a properly-sized wind generator to power the three buildings could reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the County by 920 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.
 
“The Green Municipal Fund has been instrumental in supporting the County of Huron as it looks to renewable energy sources and energy-efficiency measures for our county operations,” said County of Huron Warden, Ken Oke. “The County of Huron’s step-by-step approach to this feasibility study will provide a showcase of the technical and economic feasibility of renewable energy and provide a template for the County to implement further sustainable development projects, to the benefit of our communities and the environment.”

The Government of Canada has endowed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities with $550 million to establish and manage the Green Municipal Fund. The Fund supports partnerships and leveraging of both public and private sector funding to reach higher standards of air, water and soil quality, and climate protection.

FCM has been the national voice of municipal governments since 1901. It fosters sustainable communities enjoying a high quality of life by promoting strong, effective, and accountable municipal government.