By meadowlakeNOW

Green Lake solar project given Clean50’s Top 20 Award

Sep 26, 2017 | 3:17 PM

The Northern Village of Green Lake is being recognized on a national scale for being committed to using sustainable renewable energy.

Earlier this year, 96 solar panels were installed on the community hall, which is a 31-kilowatt system that powers 90 per cent of both the community hall and the neighbouring rink.

In late August, Green Lake mayor Ric Richardson received a message from Delta Management Corporation informing him that the aforementioned project was chosen as one of the top 20 projects in Canada.

According to the organization’s website, the awards annually recognize those projects completed in the prior two years based on their innovation, their ability to inform, and inspire other Canadians. As a part of this, Richardson was invited to participate in the Clean50 summit in Toronto on Thursday, Sept 28.

Richardson said he was elated to hear the news, and feels honoured that the work and support that came from the community to get the idea off the ground.

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“It’s quite an award for a community of our size to be included with some of the other honourees from across Canada,” he said. “It’s brought about a certain level of pride in the community – that everyone participated in supporting it.”

He said since the installation of the panels, the difference in the village’s power bills is quite significant – a savings of around $700 a month.  

“The benefits for a project of this size are financial, because it’s a grid-tide net metering program,” he said. “But I believe it also creates awareness of the possibility and potential. I know other communities have been talking about it and contacting us to learn more about our experience.”

He said Green Lake’s commitment to sustainable energy sources is in line with aboriginal tradition, and is something that many Canadians are looking to improve upon, so they are less impacting on the environment.  

At the summit on Thursday, Richardson said he is looking to the facilitated networking opportunities that will be available with professionals in the green technology field

“That will provide us with opportunities to learn about how to become connected to with other ideas and supports that will help us move further forward,” he said.

When the original idea came about for Green Lake, Richardson said it was a community-driven idea to keep the village sustainable for the future – he didn’t know it would lead to the village becoming a strong example for the province

“We didn’t realize that how significant it would be when we started down this path, we didn’t realize that we would be the first municipality to achieve something like this development, or as the First Métis community in the country to install and own a renewable power generating project. I think our community has a lot of reason to be proud for supporting the efforts that have resulted in this.”

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath