January 20, 2012

Federal gas tax supports solar energy projects in Wawa, Ontario

WAWA, Ont.

The Municipality of Wawa has installed solar panels on five municipal buildings with partial funding from the federal Gas Tax Fund.

The 63.46 kilowatt hour capacity system began feeding clean energy into the grid on Nov. 17, 2011, and is expected to generate about $53,000 annually for the municipality.

Solar panels were installed on the Municipality’s Airport Garage, Magpie Garage, Marina Pavilion, Town Hall and Action Centre between August 2011 to October 2011, and a monitoring interface will be connected to the system by early February. The interface will allow Wawa to keep track of energy produced each day.

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The solar panel system is expected to reduce greenhouse gases by 1,129 tonnes over the next 25 years.

The Municipality of Wawa is using $136,592 of its federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) allocation toward this project.

The Municipality of Wawa is also contributing the balance of the total eligible project cost of $455,307 through a loan funded by the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation.

Canada’s Gas Tax Fund provides municipalities with stable, long-term funding to build and revitalize public infrastructure. It primarily supports capital projects to improve local roads, public transit, energy systems, drinking water, air quality, wastewater and solid waste management.

The Government of Canada, through the Gas Tax Fund, provides $746 million in annual funding for municipal infrastructure in Ontario.

On Dec. 15, 2011, legislation was passed to make the Gas Tax Fund permanent, providing municipalities with long-term funding for local infrastructure priorities beyond 2014.

DCN NEWS SERVICES

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