Previous Energy Successes

Energy conservation and the strategic management of energy usage are critical steps in reducing the effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the environment, thereby ensuring a reliable energy supply and securing a sustainable community. As part of Ontario Regulation (O. Reg) 397/11, the City of Windsor released its first Corporate Energy Management Plan, covering the years from 2014 to 2018. This plan laid the foundation for tracking energy use, identifying opportunities for savings and setting long-term sustainability goals. Since then, the City has implemented a range of measures that have led to improvements in energy efficiency, cost savings, and operational performance. The following section highlights some of the key successes from those early efforts, which continue to inform and strengthen the City's current energy strategy.

2014 Corporate Energy Management Plan

As per O. Reg 397/11, the City of Windsor released the 2014–2018 Corporate Energy Management Plan. Some of the key successes of this plan were a corporate-wide energy efficiency and retrofit program and converting traffic signal lights to light-emitting diode (LED). This plan aimed to decrease energy consumption by 10% over the 2014-to-2018 timeframe. 

Initiative	Location	Impact
District energy	6 facilities in the downtown area	Marginal increase of district energy usage
Combined heat and power (CHP)	Huron Lodge Long Term Care Facility and WFCU Centre	Displaced over 6.7 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) from the provincial grid and provide 65% of the heating load of the two sites. Anticipated operational savings are $631,000 annually.
Streetlight upgrades	Various locations across the city	Converted over 23,500 streetlights to LED, reducing electricity consumption by over 10.7 million kWh or 11.8% of the corporation's annual 2015 electricity usage while saving approximately $1.2 million in utility costs. Annual maintenance costs will be reduced by over $900,000.
WFCU Centre upgrades include automated ice plant controls, LED lighting conversions, de-humidification systems and installation of CHP.	WFCU Centre	Reduced electricity consumption by 1.3 million kWh at a net capital cost of $822,000, resulting in operational savings of over $200,000 annually.
Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) to reclassify Class A Accounts	Lou Romano Water Reclamation Plant, Little River Pollution Control Plant, and Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre (WIATC) Presented by WFCU Credit Union	Electricity cost savings of $1.2 million from July 2017 to June 2018.
Solar voltaic rooftop systems	WIATC, WFCU Centre, and Transit Windsor	Three solar voltaic rooftop systems were created with a combined capacity of 1.35 megawatts (MW), resulting in an annual electricity output of approximately 2 million kWh and generating an annual income of $750,000.
Building optimization pilot project	30 sites that were the highest electricity users in the city	Assessment of capital cost upgrades was performed
Implementation of an automated energy management software: EnergyCap	Assists with the City's 600 utility accounts	Cost avoidance ranging between $50,000 and $100,000 annually from staff time savings and energy-related savings

The implementation of recommendations resulting from initiating energy audits and related studies has generated the following savings, reductions or revenues for the period of 2014 to 2018:

• Total electricity savings: 17.7 million kWh or 19.8% reduction compared to 2014 consumption
• Total electricity cost savings: $2.94 million or 23.2% compared to 2014 costs
• Total natural gas reduction (2014–2017): 680,000 cubic metres of natural gas
• Annual electricity production of photovoltaic (PV) Systems: 2 million kWh 
• Annual corporate revenues of PV Systems: $750,000 
• Annual combined heat and power (CHP) electricity displacement: 3.2 million kWh (2018 production) 
• Annual combined heat and power (CHP) thermal displacement: 475,000 cubic metres of natural gas 
• Annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction: 1,631 tonnes

2019 Corporate Energy Management Plan

As part of O.Reg. 507/18, the City of Windsor released a 2019–2023 Corporate Energy Management Plan in 2019. The 2019-2023 Corporate Energy Management Plan aimed to take further action to decrease energy consumption by 10% over the 2019-to-2023 timeframe. 

Initiative	Location	Impact
LED upgrades (phases 1 and 2)	Multiple corporate buildings	Energy savings of 2,850,050 equivalent kilowatt-hours (ekWh) per year and cost savings of $410,410 per year
Combined heat and power (CHP)	Windsor International Aquatic Training Centre (WIATC) Presented by WFCU Credit Union	Operational savings of $370,000
Solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays	Optimist Community Centre and Library; Forest Glade Community Centre and Library; John Atkinson Community Centre; fire halls 2, 5, 6 and Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), 7, and Firehall Apparatus Building; Parks and Recreation Facilities Storage and Maintenance Yard; Budimir Library; and Fontainebleau Library	Generated over 2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year and annual revenue increase of approximately $760,000
Solar pool water heating systems	Lanspeary Park, Remington Park and Mic Mac Park	Reduced gas consumption by approximately 35%
Forest Glade Arena ice plant upgrade	Forest Glade Arena	Reduced electrical consumption by 91,000 kWh
Net metering initiative	City wide	Newly implemented, savings are to be presented as part of the next Corporate Energy Management Plan
Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations	Various City properties	11 public EV charging stations have been implemented.

The implementation of recommendations resulting from initiating energy audits and related studies has generated the following savings, reductions or revenues for the period 2019 to 2023. 

• Total electricity savings: 8.6 million kWh (12%)
• Total electricity cost savings: $1.6 million (15%)
• Total natural gas savings: 61,000 cubic metres (m³) (1%)