Description:
Big Lakes County, Alberta – January 28, 2020 — Big Lakes County has been chosen as one of four communities to participate in the QUEST Planning for Resilient Energy Infrastructure in Alberta project.
This project will assist municipalities and energy utilities to adapt their energy infrastructure to more frequent extreme weather events and mitigate the risk of energy outage and impacts associated with prolonged energy outages. By building resilient local energy systems and increasing collaboration between municipalities and their utilities, the project will support the development of Smart Energy Communities in Alberta.
The four municipalities that have been chosen are Big Lake County, Ponoka County, the Town of Black Diamond, and the Town of Raymond. These municipalities were chosen because of their leadership and interest in becoming a Smart Energy Community.
The project will combine cutting-edge research on how more frequent extreme weather events disrupt the province’s energy system and the potential role of new technologies, with on-the-ground, participatory workshops that will bring together multiple community stakeholders, including energy utilities.
The project will help Big Lakes County better plan for resilience by informing asset management, energy, and emergency planning through a cross-departmental and integrated approach, and enhanced collaboration with energy utilities.
The lessons and findings from Big Lakes County will be shared with other communities and utilities in Alberta so that they can learn from this work. The learning will provide information on how other communities can improve their energy resilience plans to mitigate the negative economic impacts of prolonged power outages and energy supply disruptions due to climate change impacts.
This project is being delivered by QUEST, a national non-government organization that works to accelerate the adoption of efficient and integrated community-scale energy systems in Canada. QUEST is best known for its work to advance Smart Energy Communities in Canada. Smart Energy Communities plan energy services and infrastructure in a way that makes them more resilient and mitigates risk from extreme weather.
This project is made possible by funding from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). CEC’s NAPECA grant program supports nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations in Canada, Mexico and the United States that work closely with local and indigenous communities to improve environmental conditions at the local level. To learn more about NAPECA, visit www.cec.org/napeca. Project partners include the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC) and EQUS.
Learn more about Quest.
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