Thorold Case Study
Thorold Case Study
Part One: The Partners for Climate Protection Program Moves onto the City of Thorolds Agenda
Introduction to Thorold Case Study: Navigating the PCP Program
In this series, we'll delve into the intricacies of how the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program was adopted in Thorold and the ongoing discussions surrounding its future. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive case study that highlights both the supposed benefits and challenges of participating in such initiatives. By examining Thorold's journey, we hope to inspire and inform other communities considering their own path regarding the PCP program.
Enjoy the articles and discover ways you can get involved in local environmental stewardship efforts below.
City of Thorold Council Meeting Summary - January 17, 2023:
During the meeting, a councilor asked about the costs associated with the five milestones of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Program. Meghan Birbeck explained that joining the program has no fee, but the main cost is staff time. She noted that creating a baseline emissions inventory would fulfill a provincial mandate requiring an energy consumption and demand management plan every five years. However, she did not specify how much additional time the PCP tasks would require compared to just meeting the provincial mandate. Due to the lack of specific cost details, the decision was deferred to budget deliberations.
Councilor D: Joining the partners for climate protection. Who pulled that one? Go ahead, Councilor D.
Councilor D: Through you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, um, you know, I love the idea behind this. However, I know the budgetary status says joining the partner on page 10 of page one joining the partners for Climate Protection Program does not have a fee, but then it talks about five milestones on page three. And I’m just wondering if staff before we commit to this because I believe personally, I teach in Thorold, been for my whole life pretty well. I think Thorold staff and residents try to do their best in regard to what we can do to help mitigate climate damage. But I’m just wondering these milestones on page three have, uh, there's five milestones and I'm sure there's a cost associated with them. Has staff looked at that yet? If anybody on staff could answer, I'd appreciate it. So it’s I’m talking about the Milestone 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Timestamp 1:08
Mr. Mayor: Jason? Go ahead, Jason.
Jason: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd actually like to refer the question to Meghan Birbeck, our senior.
Meghan Birbeck: Hi, so through the chair. For the milestones, as the councilor pointed out, joining the partners for climate protection has no cost, but it offers us different tools to help us tackle all of these five milestones. So the only fee that's involved would be staff time. The creation of a baseline emissions inventory would actually help us fulfill a requirement that we are mandated to do, which is an energy consumption and demand management plan that’s required to be done by the province every five years. So I believe it’s either this year or next year that the city would have to do an energy conservation and demand management plan. And for that plan, we do report annually. These reports are done, I believe, through Public Works and Finance. So the reports are done, they usually look at the energy that's used, but they also leave an opportunity and encourage us to look at the greenhouse gas emissions that are being done through electricity, natural gas, propane, or any sort of energy sources that we use in the city.
Timestamp 2:06
Meghan Birbeck: So that first milestone on page three is the creation of a baseline emissions inventory, which kind of goes hand in hand with that energy consumption and demand management plan that is a provincial requirement to be done. The next milestone is the set emissions reduction target. So in the tools that we would be receiving from the PCP program, we would be inputting the emissions into their software, and from there it would help us identify what reductions would be able to be done. And that's a pretty simple milestone in terms of we would just set an emissions target that would be realistic from the emissions, and then we would bring that to council for council to discuss. Milestone two would be staff time plus council's endorsement that would help us meet that milestone.
Timestamp 3:06
Meghan Birbeck: Milestone three would take those emissions, the reduction targets, and actually come up with action items through a plan to get that reduction done. Again, that would be staff time with all the free resources that are offered by the PCP program. Those action items would also go hand in hand with that energy consumption demand management plan because in that plan, we're required to have a plan of how we're going to manage our energy. So by reducing our energy, we would also, in theory, be reducing our greenhouse gases. Milestone four would be implementing the plan which would involve different aspects of the municipality from staff time to staff resources and fees. But implementing those action items would again go hand in hand with that energy consumption demand management plan. Monitoring and reporting back to the PCP program would involve substantial free resources that would help us.
Timestamp 4:40
Councilor D: Thank you, Meghan. Thanks for the detailed explanation, but I just wanted some numbers. I want to know how much this is going to cost us because I need actual figures before I'm going to support something. And you said you've done it before. I know you're saying in kind that cost taxpayers money, right? So I need some actual figures. And I don't see any so I can't support this at this time without actual numbers. I know it's in kind but there are numbers. There's taking away staff that are very busy right now, but I appreciate your answer.
Councilor Hanley: Mr. Mayor, I'd like to defer it just on the simple fact that I put a motion forward previously in regards to an organizational review and the possibility of enhancement of more staff members. To me, it's a great explanation as to why, but at the bottom line, it sounds as if there may be a position that needs to be hired. I'm asking to defer it and it be discussed during the budget deliberation because there's obviously going to be a cost associated with it and seeing what we discussed earlier tonight in light of that we have a lot of things on the table to share.
Mr. Mayor: You're deferring it, we don't need uh, we're not going to have a discussion on it. A deferral motion. Do I have a second? Councilor Longos. Okay, there's no debate on a deferral motion. We have, so I just want to confirm Mr. Mayor, the timeline for this is a deferral to deal with after budget or referring it to budget deliberations?
Councilor Hanley: Referring it to budget deliberations.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you. All those in favor? Opposed? That is carried.
Advertisement for Delegations
Attention Thorold Residents!
Join us on June 18, 2024, at the City of Thorold Council Meeting to voice your concerns against the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Program. This is your chance to discuss the financial implications and increased staff time required by the PCP program compared to provincial mandates. Your input is crucial in shaping our community's approach to climate action.
Date: June 18, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: City Hall, Thorold
Make your voice heard. Stand for local control and transparency!
For more details, visit Thorold City Council.
To support our recommendations fill out the Thorold Statement of Support and email to our KICLEI Niagara Contact.
Duncan Spence
KICLEI Niagara
niagaracivicengagement@protonmail.com
Thank you so much for sharing this!
So, to recap, I got 4 of the 5 milestones, as follows:
1. The creation of a baseline emissions inventory
2. set emissions reduction target.
3. take those emissions, the reduction targets, and actually come up with action items through a plan to get that reduction done
4. implementing the plan
Did they not mention the 5th? Or did I miss it somehow?