The town of Antigonish is already active in the fight against climate change and now they are taking another important step to reduce their carbon footprint! A two-megawatt solar garden will be constructed in Brierly Brook mainly through funding from the provincial and federal governments.
They are requesting 73% of $5 million from the provincial Low Carbon Communities Funding Program and the federal Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
The news of Antigonish’s solar garden propagates a feeling that investments in Canada’s infrastructure should be focused on sustainable projects. Whether it is incentives for individuals and organizations to invest in renewable power, efficient products, net-zero buildings or electric vehicle initiatives, there is a movement to come out on the other side of the pandemic with a road-map to a decarbonized society.
The solar garden project in Antigonish will allow eligible ratepayers to receive credit on their power bills through the project. Solar garden initiatives are terrific opportunities to allow for citizens to choose the option for solar electricity for their homes, without entirely funding the project on their own.
As previously mentioned, Antigonish has been actively playing a role in mitigating climate change. Antigonish, along with Berwick, and Mahone Bay have a partnership known as the Alternative Resource Energy Authority (AREA for short). The towns each operate electric utilities and distribute power to customers within their service areas. They have already invested in a 23.5-megawatt wind farm in Ellershouse, hydroelectric dams and are now taking new additional steps to reduce their carbon footprint. We hope other utilities follow suit and explore innovative methods to generate new, clean electricity as demand continues to rise and reliance on GHG emitting sources is expected and mandated to fall.
