The City of St. John’s is taking steps to significantly improve energy efficiency.
The city will be upgrading infrastructure for 17 city-owned buildings to improve efficiency and transition from oil to electricity.
The city will be spending around $6.6 million over 15 years, which will be paid back through savings through the upgrades.
The upgrades will put the city on track to reach 70 per cent of its emissions reductions target for 2030 by 2025.@VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/5Din3yVfgk
— Noah Sheppard (@SheppardNoah14) February 28, 2023
The city expects to recover its investment of $6.6 million over 15 years, with improvements from lighting retrofits to fuel, switching from oil to electric boilers.
The federal government is pitching in $1.7 million while the province is spending $1.4 million through the Newfoundland and Labrador Climate Change Challenge Fund program.
It’s estimated the upgrades will save the city $517,000 annually, which should pay for the project.
The city says the measures will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1,118 tones annually, the equivalent of removing 124 homes from oil heating by adding 26 homes with electricity.
The project, along with other improvements at the municipal and provincial levels, has the city on track to reach over 70 per cent of its Corporate Climate Plan target for 2030, which is to reduce emissions by 40 per cent.
