Kelowna falls far short on plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions

Special to The Herald

The City of Kelowna did not meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 22 per cent below 2007 levels by 2017, council heard Monday.

Instead, the city has reduced its corporate greenhouse gas emissions to seven per cent below 2007 levels, city energy manager Brydan Tollefson said in his report to council.

Despite not meeting the goal, the city has completed several effective emission-reduction strategies, including adding hybrid vehicles to the city fleet, building the new energy-efficient police building and implementing the current LED streetlight retrofit project, which will reduce streetlight electricity by 62 per cent, said Tollefson.

“Had the city not achieved any corporate GHG reductions since 2007, annual emissions would be . . . 17 per cent higher than they are today,” he said.

In 2016, the city spent $8.65 million on corporate energy use, which is considerably higher than what was spent in 2011, said Tollefson.

If the city were to stop taking action to reduce emissions, energy costs would increase to $10.5 million by 2022, he said.

“We’ve definitely put a lot more effort into reducing energy since 2011.”

Tollefson recommended the city set a new target to reduce corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 12 per cent below 2007 levels by 2022, which would involve reducing emissions by one per cent a year.

“It’s really a continuation of what we’ve been doing,” he said.

Currently, the city is decreasing emissions by about one per cent a year.

If it continues that trend, the city would save more than $4 million in the next five years.

If the city were to take no further steps in reducing its corporate emissions, Tollefson estimated the emissions would grow at a rate of at least one per cent a year.

“The key to the energy management program is understanding our energy use and trying to predict where things are going to go in the future, as well as how to determine what projects we should be implementing,” said Tollefson.

Coun. Luke Stack said he liked the target of reducing emissions by 12 per cent below 2007 levels by 2022.

“I think that’s a very practical type of target, and the fact that it’s basically one per cent a year,” he said. “It’s something we can understand. It’s a goal I believe is achievable.”