Three Ontario municipalities receive top honours at this year's Community Conservation Awards

Burlington, Sault Ste. Marie and South-West Oxford are top winners in province-wide Conservation Awards

TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2013 /CNW/ - Burlington, Sault Ste. Marie and South-West Oxford are recipients of this year's Community Conservation Awards, which celebrate the leadership and innovation that municipalities across the province are demonstrating to support province-wide conservation goals.

Now in its second year, the initiative is a collaborative effort led by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the Electricity Distributors Association (EDA). The three winners received their awards at today's Local Authority Services (LAS) Symposium, organized by AMO. 

The Community Conservation Awards are presented to communities that demonstrate strong achievement in the following areas: 

• Conservation leadership
• Innovation and market transformation
• Corporate/internal and community engagement.

The winners represent population categories of up to 50,000, 50,000 to 150,000, and over 150,000.

The awards are open to all cities, towns and municipalities in Ontario. Participating municipalities were required to provide a written submission that outlined their conservation efforts, as well as a recent case study highlighting a specific conservation initiative undertaken in their community.

Quotes

"Congratulations to Burlington, Sault Ste. Marie and South-West Oxford for their commitment to energy conservation," says Bob Chiarelli, Ontario Minister of Energy. "The recently announced Long-Term Energy Plan confirmed conservation will be the first resource considered to meet emerging energy needs, where cost-effective. The leadership of these communities will help implement this goal."

"We are pleased to recognize these communities for their achievements in energy conservation and commitment towards ensuring long-term energy sustainability," says Andrew Pride, OPA's Vice-President, Conservation. "Burlington, Sault Ste. Marie and South-West Oxford have taken the initiative to promote conservation in their local communities and demonstrate their leadership province-wide."

"Congratulations to the winners of this year's Community Conservation Awards. Municipalities are at the forefront of reducing energy costs and fighting climate change.  AMO and our subsidiary, LAS, are actively supporting efforts to build a culture of conservation in Ontario," says AMO President Russ Powers. "Conservation is not just the cheapest energy option. As these municipalities have shown, it delivers substantial economic, social and environmental benefits to the whole community."

"We commend these municipalities for working hard to engage with their communities and to build broad and informed support for conservation," says EDA Chair Rene Gatien. "These municipalities are leading examples for all communities in Ontario working to get the most from our energy resources, often in partnership with local electrical utilities."

Links

More information about the Community Conservation Awards can be found at powerauthority.on.ca/cca.

More information about Ontario's saveONenergy energy conservation programs can be found at www.saveonenergy.ca. 

The Ontario Power Authority is responsible for ensuring a reliable, sustainable supply of electricity for Ontario. Its key areas of focus are planning the power system for the long term, leading and coordinating conservation initiatives across the province, and ensuring development of needed generation resources.

SOURCE: Ontario Power Authority

Media Contact

John Cannella, Ontario Power Authority
416-969-6307
[email protected]