Hydro Ottawa to reduce electricity consumption by 394M kWh
by Cleantech Canada Staff
Utility signed conservation agreement with OPA, will help take equivalent of 47,000 homes off grid by 2020
OTTAWA—The head of Ottawa’s municipally-owned utility has signed an energy conservation agreement that will see Hydro Ottawa Ltd. help take the equivalent of 47,000 homes off the grid by 2020.
Hydro Ottawa president and chief executive Bryce Conrad signed the agreement with the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) that requires the utility to help its customers reduce electricity consumption by 394 million kilowatt hours (kWh) within six years.
The target is nearly double what was previously expected from the province during the last four years of conservation programming, according to Hydro Ottawa.
“We continue to see a decrease year over year in electricity consumption, demonstrating that our conservation programs work,” the utility’s Conrad said in a release.
“This new provincial target is unlike anything we’ve achieved before and it’s certainly ambitious, but I’m confident that Ottawa residents and businesses will help us meet this target together because it’s the right thing to do.”
Hydro Ottawa said it will be looking for “new and innovative grass-roots conservation programs and incentives” in an attempt to convince customers to reduce consumption.
The agreement was signed as part of the new Conservation First Framework introduced by the OPA, which is designed to reduce electricity consumption in the province by seven billion kWh, or five per cent, by Dec. 31, 2020.
The Conservation First Framework provides local distribution companies with long-term funding for conservation and demand management programs to help achieve its targets.
