Moose Jaw City Council received an update from Greenwave Innovations during Monday's council meeting on the Climate Action Plan initiatives that were completed in 2022.

The primary goal last year was to deploy the electrical sub-monitoring systems into the City’s 10 largest energy-consuming facilities (Nine community buildings and one water treatment plant). These facilities make up approximately 48 per cent of the city’s total corporate emissions with electricity consumption being the largest carbon footprint contributor.

During Strategic Planning in March 2021, city council identified a Climate Action Plan as a critical objective. In December 2021, the City of Moose Jaw adopted the plan which identified greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that will meet and/or exceed the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations. The goal of the plan is to significantly reduce corporate greenhouse gas emissions from city buildings while implementing the necessary steps required to access provincial and federal funding programs related to climate change.

During the 2022 budget deliberations, city council approved a 4-year agreement for Energy Sub-Monitoring Solutions and Consulting Services with Greenwave Innovations to assist with achieving the city’s climate goals.

Activities being undertaken in collaboration with Greenwave Innovations include:
- Installation and commissioning of energy sub-monitoring system (hardware & software)
- Baseline energy consumption data collection and validation
- Historical and real-time data analysis and identification of energy conservation opportunities, prioritization, and implementation guidance
- Regular meetings to review building energy performance and efficiency opportunities
- Quantification of utility savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions

By conducting these activities, the city is expected to achieve the following outcomes:
- Baseline energy usage determination.
- Identification and implementation of energy efficiency improvements.
- Reduced operational costs.
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
- Ongoing energy usage analysis.

The City of Moose Jaw Climate Action Plan includes the following climate change targets:

- 20 per cent reduction of Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2025 compared to 2019 baseline levels
- 45 per cent reduction of Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 baseline levels
- Eliminate 100 per cent of water loss within all municipal buildings.

Efforts have seen Moose Jaw’s total corporate emissions reduced by 14.2 per cent in 2022 over the 2019 baseline period.

The report states that the addition of solar panels at the Yara Centre, Moose Jaw Events Centre and City Hall, as well as the LED lighting retrofit at the Yara Centre have helped reduce the annual electricity costs by $41,150 while eliminating 267 tonnes of greenhouse gases (CO2e). The replacement of the blowers at the Hoffman Blower House at the Wastewater Treatment Plant was substantially completed in March 2022. Since the 2019 baseline, the Hoffman Blower House has achieved annual cost reductions of $149,500, while eliminating 1,399 tonnes of greenhouse gases (CO2e).

"We're making some very good progress. It's progress towards reducing emissions but we're also saving money at the same time," said City Manager Jim Puffalt.