INNISFAIL – The town has launched a community-driven initiative to guide the community towards a more prosperous future through energy innovation.
It will do so with the newly formed Innisfail Energy Hub, a series of public workshops and engagements over the next year designed to find solutions to smoothly navigate the changing energy environments.
The engagements will be delivered in partnership with the Energy Futures Lab (EFL), an Alberta-based coalition of diverse innovators and leading organizations working to accelerate required energy transitions, and to collaboratively develop solutions for a low-emission and socially equitable energy future.
These workshops, facilitated by the EFL team, are also designed to support community action on collaborative, actionable projects with tangible community benefits.
The Hub has tentatively planned its launch workshop for early to mid-September.
“It's a great opportunity for the community, including stakeholders within our community, to come together and discuss energy, and for us as a town, energy is a priority in our community economic development plan,” said Mayor Jean Barclay.
“We have a lot of expertise here in the community in all phases of the energy sector, whether it's oil and gas, electricity, or renewable energy. It's going to be a fun time for the next year on getting people around the table.
“We're doing a lot of work and energy efficiency on our own municipal buildings, and we have to think about where energy is going in the future and be a part of that process. I'm really excited to see what comes out at the end.”
The town has been working towards this project for a better part of this year.
At council’s May 9 regular meeting, a motion was approved to directs administration to submit an Expression of Interest to EFL to host an Energy Futures Roadshow program event; an initiative that in past years EFL held in multiple communities across Alberta.
However, there has been a big change. Innisfail was selected as the sole host of the 2022-23 Energy Futures Roadshow program and will have a series of public workshops over the next year that will be delivered in partnership with the EFL.
“It's an attempt to engage the public to move forward on initiatives dealing with energy challenges and the changing energy environment,” said Ken Kowalchuk, the town’s communications coordinator.
This change and opportunity follows council’s approval on May 9th of an Energy Policy for the Town of Innisfail; one that aims to achieve environmental sustainability and strives to reduce the energy consumption and ecological footprint of the organization.
Barclay is hoping the community-led workshop series through the newly formed Innisfail Energy Hub will build on that initiative.
“Definitely. Energy is one of our priorities in our community economic development strategy, somewhat focused on power and electricity. It’s going to put Innisfail in a spotlight working on this,” she said.
The two-page document also contains 12 commitments for the policy, including advancing sustainable energy and low carbon solutions that support the long-term health, affordability, prosperity, and mobility of residents, businesses, and institutions.
“Eventually, through this series of workshops, and depending on where the discussion leads, there will be actions and initiatives that come out of those workshops,” said Kowalchuk. “We will then help groups to facilitate the move towards a new energy horizon.”
