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Municipal Energy Specialist
Notice given by: Councillor Joly
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BUDGET POSTPONED MOTION:
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That "Municipal Energy Specialist" be funded for $115,900 from the tax levy and be added as a permanent service level.
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Administration’s Understanding of the Intent of the Motion:
That a new FTE be created for Municipal Energy Specialist to support a new permanent service level for the municipal energy and efficiency program commencing January 1, 2022. That the funding for the position come from tax revenue.
Operational or Organizational Impacts if Motion is Approved:
There is presently no permanent service level for the municipal energy and efficiency program; efforts to date have come through grant funding towards a Term position. The City had planned to reinvest operating savings to temporarily fund (throughout 2022) continued and future energy/utility efficiencies. This motion would ensure the program is permanent/ongoing and all efficiencies identified over multiple years could be implemented with a FTE resource for delivery capacity.
Financial Implications of Motions:
Funding of $115,900 for the Municipal Energy Specialist position allocated from the operational savings already identified through energy efficiency initiatives, would have no increase to the municipal tax revenue.
Alternatively, $115,900 will be allocated from the tax levy to fund the Municipal Energy Specialist position.
Stakeholder Consultations:
The work carried out by the Municipal Energy Specialist is completed in partnership with facilities managers, facility operating staff, and project managers. Feedback from staff directly working with the Municipal Energy Specialist over the two year term is that this role has provided significant value to the organization through collaborative energy management changes and are supportive of this role continuing.
No external engagement identified.
Background:
The Municipal Energy Specialist is an existing term position, with 80 per cent funding through a grant from the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre Municipal Energy Manager (MEM) Program. Funding from the MEM Program concludes at the beginning of December 2021. The City has identified a return on investment that exceeds the cost of a permanent FTE. A portion of the operational savings has been reinvested to temporarily fund the extension of the term position. Should Council wish to move forward with approving the FTE for 2022, City Administration recommends the operational savings identified be redirected towards the FTE, in order to have no impact on the municipal tax rate.
If this is how Council wishes to proceed the following motion is recommended:
“That the City of St. Albert FTE base be increased by 1.0 to support the permanent appointment of a Municipal Energy Specialist effective January 1, 2022. Funding for the position will be through the reallocation of operating savings.”
This position is responsible for the City's corporate energy management program. The benefits of a permanent Municipal Energy Specialist position include (but not limited to):
- Energy and utility cost savings through capital projects and non-capital measures (review of building automation system programming to ensure free cooling utilized in summer, changing temperature set points, equipment scheduling), at both existing facilities and consideration in new City buildings. There are over $174K in annual operating savings (electricity/gas) identified from 2022-2024 through low cost measures (energy scan identified savings) and/or one time investments (e.g. REALice, RMR project synergies).
- Identifying and accessing energy-related grant funding (this position has successfully accessed approximately $1.1 million in grant funding over the 2-year term).
- Progress towards greenhouse gas reduction targets.
- Provides energy management lens across the organization (Green Development Standards as part of the Land Use Bylaw update, regular Energy Management Team meetings, identify and support training opportunities for facilities staff, addition of energy specific requirements in the Sustainable Building Policy).
- Expertise and capacity for understanding energy consumption and billing (review of minimum process, detailed cost modeling for Servus Place to understand marginal costs of kWh and kW, assist facility manager on the analysis of operational changes in response to COVID-19, rising financial liability of facilities due to increasing carbon tax, identify possible opportunity to access "solar club retailer" rates at City rooftop solar facilities during next electricity retailer procurement process).
- Review of RMR for identifying potential synergies/opportunities in rehabilitation and efficiency (e.g. roof replacement, new solar PV on that roof); identifying ROI from investments.
- Internal subject matter resource to support energy efficiency initiatives (electric vehicle charging stations at City facilities, feasibility of curbside charging infrastructure, City fleet electrification, benchmarking program, regional initiatives, energy management software for energy tracking).
- Employee engagement (internal staff Energy Team, Space Heater Swap program, development of energy related training materials for new staff on-boarding).
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Report Date: December 2, 2021
Author(s): Meghan Myers
Committee/Department: Human Resources, Safety and Environment
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble