Mayor's Community Energy Plan for the Town of Halton Hills (Corporate & Community-wide focus)

The Town of Halton Hills will develop a Community Energy Plan with targets and actions to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for both corporate and community activities, in order to support a prosperous economy, environmental health, social wellbeing and the cultural vitality of the community. The plan will enable Halton Hills to complete milestones 1-3 of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Program. Located on the outer edges of the Greater Toronto Area, the town faces significant growth pressures, and contains a unique mix of urban neighborhoods, villages, hamlets, rural areas and agriculture, comprising 276 square kilometers. The town will work in collaboration with the Halton Hills Community Energy Corporation a municipally-owned utility corporation, to develop a GHG inventory, set GHG emission reduction targets and specify actions that will address energy use, transportation planning, land use, waste and water management. The plan will consist of two key components: (i) a 5-year Conservation Demand Management Plan; and (ii) a Local Action Plan under the PCP program. These two components will be closely tied together by a single vision, set of objectives, and targets. The plan will be based on a rigorous approach to GHG forecasting and target setting through the use of the GHGProof open source modeling tool. The decision making framework for the plan will include a "Sustainability Implications Worksheet" which is an existing reporting requirement used by the municipal Council. Internal consultation will be done through a Steering and Technical Advisory Committee composed of crucial senior leadership, while external consultation will take place through workshops addressing the residential and non-residential sectors. These workshops will include a variety of engagement tools such as social media, World Cafés, wedge analysis, crowdsourcing, e-newsletters, website, e-mail, and interviews. The Mayor’s Community Energy Plan will put in place a mechanism for improved performance of town facilities and ongoing energy management for the town. The plan will advance underlying strategies such as the Strategic Plan, Green Plan, Official Plan and Integrated Community Sustainability Strategy, and complement existing initiatives including the Economic Development Strategy, Green Building Evaluation Checklist, and Green Building Standard. Key lessons learned may include the importance of partnerships with local utilities, leveraging the Green Energy Act to create rigorous GHG reduction goals, and employing creative social engagement strategies. (Project description from original funding application)