MOOSE JAW — The City of Moose Jaw’s efforts to cut its greenhouse gas emissions appear to be working, as last year it reduced its emissions by over 10 per cent and eliminated water waste.
The city’s climate action plan aims to reduce corporate GHG emissions by 20 per cent by 2025 and by 45 per cent by 2030 compared to 2019 baseline levels and eliminate 100 per cent of water loss within all municipal buildings.
According to a recent city council report, by the end of 2024, the city had reduced its GHG emissions by 11.2 per cent over the baseline, mainly due to conservation measures, capital efficiency upgrades and continued integration of energy sub-monitoring equipment.
Specifically, the reduction included 8.2 per cent from electrical emissions through efforts such as recommissioning equipment, installing solar panels and pursuing low-cost and no-cost efficiency measures, and three per cent from natural gas emissions through efforts such as equipment upgrades, improved scheduling and consumption monitoring.
“This progress moves the city closer to its 2025 target of a 20-per-cent reduction,” the report said.
SaskPower’s carbon intensity affects the city’s emission reduction efforts, since the former’s electricity emissions increased by 2.8 per cent between 2019 and 2025, the report continued. However, the municipality expects further improvements as the Crown corporation works toward achieving net-zero by 2050.
Furthermore, federal projections estimate a reduction of SaskPower’s carbon intensity of 8.2 per cent in 2025, which could positively affect Moose Jaw’s future reductions and help it achieve its targets, the document added.
Meanwhile, contractor Greenwave Innovations completed installing electrical sub-monitoring systems in 11 city-owned buildings that produce 48 per cent of all city emissions, with those devices providing 550 unique monitoring points that capture minute-by-minute data, the report said.
In 2024, these devices reduced the city’s electricity consumption by 496,339 kilowatt hours (kWh), or 1.72 per cent, resulting in savings of more than $55,000, the document noted. Also, the city saved $255,798 on its SaskPower utility bills, a reduction last year of 14.1 per cent on expenses and an overall reduction of 3.4 per cent compared to baseline.
Furthermore, solar panels at the Yara Centre, city hall and Temple Gardens Centre generated 297,609 kWh last year, contributing to an emissions reduction of 1.02 per cent, while LED retrofits and HVAC scheduling changes provided additional savings, the report said.
Meanwhile, Greenwave finished installing natural gas monitoring devices in October 2024, with that technology supporting leak detection, recommissioning and electrification analysis, the report said.
Also, Greenwave upgraded and integrated 12 water monitoring meters, which resolved 12 leaks and resulted in a 12.2-per-cent reduction in water losses from baseline, the report added. These devices helped the city achieve zero water waste across the 10 targeted buildings and avoid wasting 5.1 million litres of water — two Olympic-size swimming pools — for savings of $8,019.
The 11 digital dashboard TVs that the contractor installed are now live at city hall, the Kinsmen Sportsplex, Pla-Mor Palace and Yara Centre and display the city’s real-time progress on reducing GHG emissions at those venues and overall conservation efforts, the document said.
Greenwave updates the visuals through its “Greensense” platform, while the platforms promote city and third-party programs and events and allow businesses to purchase digital advertising, which provides extra revenue for the municipality, the report noted.
Meanwhile, city hall is now in the final year of a four-year, $1.364 million agreement with Greenwave Innovations, said the report.
This includes $930,000 in capital funding for the equipment and installation and $434,000 in operating funding for consulting services.
The report added that with the agreement nearing completion, city administration plans to negotiate a new contract this year and would bring a report to council outlining extension options.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, April 28.
