Thunder Bay's Community Energy and GHG Emission Reduction Plan

The City of Thunder Bay (with a population of 107,909) will be developing a Community Energy and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Reduction Plan in order to conserve energy and reduce community GHG emissions. The City of Thunder Bay has shown leadership and demonstrated its commitment to sustainability since the adoption of its first Community Environmental Action Plan (CEAP) in 2008. The original CEAP was updated in 2014 to create the EarthCare Sustainability Plan, which allowed the City of Thunder Bay to achieve milestone 5 of FCM’s Partners for Climate Protection Program (PCP) in 2016. The GHG reduction target set in the EarthCare Sustainability Plan was 20% below 2009 levels by 2020. A recent inventory in 2016 demonstrated that this goal has already been achieved and emissions have been reduced by 22% below 2009 levels. The new Community Energy and GHG Reduction Plan will define a path forward to further implement the Earthcare Sustainability Plan and expand the emission reduction targets. The planning process will consist of updating and expanding the GHG emissions inventory, setting new reduction targets, and outlining actions to reduce GHG emissions for the community and the municipality in all sectors including energy use, transportation, planning, land use, waste and water management. The new GHG reduction targets will align with the provincial and federal targets of 37% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 below 1990 levels. The methodology for developing the Plan will utilize the Ontario Ministry of Energy’s Municipal Energy Plan framework, which consists of three overarching tasks: 1) stakeholder engagement; 2) updating the GHG emissions inventory; and 3) developing the Energy and GHG Reduction Plan.Stakeholder engagement methods will include the formalization of a steering committee and working group to define the project scope, goals and terms of reference. Public consultation will also be carried out using open houses, facilitated workshops and educational activities. The GHG emissions inventory will be analyzed and updated in order to identify opportunities for energy replacement with renewable sources, conservation and reduction possibilities. The final Energy and GHG Reduction Plan will allow the City of Thunder Bay to gain a better understanding of energy use and emissions, and identify opportunities for cost savings, economic development, energy security, sustainable solutions, healthier communities, green initiatives and innovations. An implementation plan will also be developed. Continued and on-going communication and monitoring of the Plan will be carried out and energy and GHG emission usage will be collected and reported on a large scale every 5 years with updates provided each year.