Mulmur residents asked to participate in Community Energy Plan

Mulmur is taking inventory of the community’s total energy use and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with the goal of helping residents and businesses save money and create a path for sustainable development.
Community Energy Plans (CEP) are created to help communities understand their energy consumption and foster local sustainable energy solutions. Here in Ontario, CEP’s are popping up all over. It is becoming a priority for every community to create a plan for the future of their energy use and promote long term sustainability.
Mulmur has decided to join this movement. Development of the CEP is funded by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Ontario Ministry of Energy. R.J. Burnside & Associates is working with Mulmur to produce the CEP, help promote the community’s energy efficiency and reduce GHG levels.
To get a clear understanding of Mulmur’s energy use this plan will cover all sectors including, residential, commercial, institutional, agriculture, and transportation.R.J. Burnside is researching the estimated energy use and also providing potential energy solutions to reduce use, in particular energy use that generates GHG. Mulmur’s CEP will be an educational tool that will act as a catalyst to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs, however, the CEP will only be successful if residents and businesses actively participate and make changes. The CEP is designed to be created with extensive help from the community, gathering ideas and knowledge from the stakeholders of Mulmur.
An online survey is now available at mulmur.ca/departments/publicworks/energy-study and a public open house is planned for Sept. 28.
Researchers are also hoping to identify some community leaders who will carry on with this important work. All age groups are welcome, and high school and university age students are encouraged to get involved.
Many people feel helpless to contribute to stop climate change, but this CEP will present steps that will help make a difference.
Canada and three other countries have now declared that the rapid change to the world’s climate is a national emergency. Scientists have stated there is less than 10 years to dramatically reduce GHG levels to avoid irreversible damage, with a temperature increase of 1.5°C. Canada has already exceeded a 1.7°C average annual increase (over land) since 1948. Increases in the north, the Prairies and northern BC are higher.
Average annual temperatures in northern Canada increased by 2.3°C. (Visit changingclimate.ca/CCR2019.)
It will take a community to tackle a challenge like energy reduction and GHG emissions, and this CEP is designed to be a critical tool to help achieve the reduction goals that will be set with this study.
Anyone interested in participating is invited to visit mulmur.ca/departments/publicworks/energy-study or contact info@mulmur.ca.