The Town of Rocky Mountain House has approved a new energy efficiency policy aimed at lowering consumption across municipal departments and facilities.
The policy follows a report highlighting aging infrastructure throughout the town as inefficient.
Examples provided by Gord Laird, the town’s municipal energy manager, include the Lou Soppit Community Centre, which uses 1.73 gigajoules per square metre in electricity and natural gas — above the recommended benchmark of 1.07 gigajoules.
He also pointed to the Co-operative Aquatic Centre. Despite receiving several retrofits in recent years, the pool facility still consumes 4.51 gigajoules per square metre, well above the recommended 0.68.
Data compiled by Laird shows the arena facility consumes 50 per cent of the town’s total energy each month.
Regarding inefficiencies at the Co-operative Aquatic Centre, Wes Amendt, director of recreation and community services, says the town was successful in securing a grant from the federal Climate Ready Infrastructure Service for an efficiency and dehumidification study at the facility.
The study is expected to take place this spring.
The purpose of the policy is fourfold:
- improve energy efficiency across all departments
- reduce energy-related costs and greenhouse gas emissions
- support sustainable development and environmental stewardship
- promote innovation in energy-efficient technologies and practices
The policy applies to all Town of Rocky Mountain House facilities, departments, employees and operations.
Coun. Trevor Kalyn supported the overall goals of the policy, saying that even with aging infrastructure, retrofits across the community will contribute to a cumulative reduction in energy use.
Currently, 80 per cent of Laird’s salary is funded by the Alberta Municipalities Municipal Climate Change Action Centre. However, that funding is set to end in 2026.
Amendt says the hope is that energy savings will help offset costs associated with funding the position once grant funding ends.
Coun. Dale Shippelt suggested revisiting the position during budget discussions, saying that while it has shown its worth, it could possibly be scaled back from its current $80,000 budget.
According to Laird, short-term “low-hanging fruit” efforts to improve efficiency include LED lighting in town buildings, light-activated fans that previously ran 24 hours a day, and draft sealing at the town office building.
Amendt says administration spent much of 2025 assessing inefficiencies around town, with possible furnace and water replacements at the arena among projects council may consider in Budget 2027.
Overall, the goal is to reduce power consumption by 10 per cent across municipal operations.
Council adopted the policy unanimously.
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