Duane Hicks
The Fort Frances Power Corp. is at the head of the class when it comes to electrical conservation.
It was presented with the 2011-14 Conservation Target Achievement Award on Friday during the 2017 Business & Community Expo at the Fort Frances Curling Club.
“Each Local Distribution Company [LDC] in Ontario–there’s 70 of them–had a target between 2011 and 2014, which was all pro-rated to the size of the communities,” noted Declan Doyle, manager of direct customers at the Independent Electricity System Operator (ISEO), who was visiting here from Toronto.
“There were 12 overall who exceeded their target, but Fort Frances actually got 118 percent of their target over that period,” he lauded.
FFPC president and CEO Joerg Ruppenstein said the conservation target is achieved by meeting a number of individual measures as set out by the ISEO.
For example, for every LED light bulb that gets installed that replaces a traditional one, you get so many kilowatt hours savings, he explained.
Ruppenstein also noted Fort Frances was one of the first communities in Ontario to fully convert its streetlights to LED.
The FFPC’s own hydro crew undertook an ambitious replacement program in 2013-14, which saw the town’s 1,000-plus aged high-pressure sodium streetlights replaced.
A second example is if the FFPC has a coupon event to promote its customers to buy energy-efficient products, that counts, as well, added Ruppenstein.
“It’s all geared towards the number of projects you do and the amount of equipment that’s installed,” he remarked.
“There’s a science and math behind it.
“The more light bulbs you install, the more pool pumps you replace, the more hardware you change out to modern-day technology, the better off you are,” Ruppenstein reasoned.
“But it takes a lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of effort.”
The FFPC now is working on meeting its 2015-18 conservation target. Ruppenstein said ongoing regulatory changes make it a constant effort to reach the target, and it takes a while to get conservation programs up and running.
But now that new programs are rolling, he is confident FFPC will succeed.
“I’m not sure if we’ll exceed our target, but we should get close to hitting our target,” he noted.
Ruppenstein said the FFPC’s conservation efforts are helped by the likes of regional energy advisor Tara Allaire, who is promoting conservation for all northern LDCs, and technical customer service representative, Jeremy Nussbaumer, who has been helping FFPC customers on an individual basis with their energy-savings questions.
Joining Doyle, Ruppenstein, Allaire, and Nussbaumer for Friday’s award presentation were FFPC chair Larry Cousineau, vice-chair Deane Cunningham, and directors Roy Avis and Aimee Matheson.