The Township of Douro-Dummer today celebrated the installation of new solar panels on the community centre property. These panels will be a source of clean energy and will generate new revenue for the Township.

“Our government is proud to have invested in this innovative project that will generate power and revenue for the Township of Douro-Dummer,” said Dean Del Mastro, Member of Parliament for Peterborough. “We will continue to support local infrastructure priorities as we focus on promoting growth, job creation and economic prosperity here in Ontario and across Canada.”

“Truly an example of working together”, said Douro-Dummer Township Mayor, J. Murray Jones. “Douro-Dummer is a great example of how a small township can benefit in a big way with a little help.”

The Township of Douro-Dummer built a tracker solar system (10 kw) on its community centre property. The clean energy produced will be sold to Hydro One. The system is expected to generate $200,000 to $240,000 in revenue to the municipality over 20 years. Furthermore, the Township is planning to use any surplus money produced by the panels to offset future costs of implementing further energy efficiency initiatives.

The total cost of this $77,066 solar panel project was funded through the Township of Douro-Dummer’s share of its federal Gas Tax Fund allocation.

The Gas Tax Fund provides long-term funding to local governments to help them build and revitalize public infrastructure. In December 2011, the Government of Canada passed legislation to make the Gas Tax Fund a permanent annual investment of $2 billion per year. The Government of Canada, through the Gas Tax Fund alone, provides $746 million in funding annually for municipal infrastructure in Ontario. Between 2010 and 2014, the Township of Douro-Dummer will receive $853,256 from Canada’s Gas Tax Fund.

“Canada’s Gas Tax Fund acknowledges that all orders of government must work together to address the pressing need for infrastructure investment in our municipalities,” said Russ Powers, President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). “Stable and predictable, the Gas Tax Fund supports investment in local priority projects that lead to job creation and economic growth in communities right across Ontario.”

The Government of Canada has engaged provinces, territories, municipalities and key stakeholders in a series of roundtables to guide the development of a new long-term infrastructure plan that will support job creation, economic growth and prosperity. We have heard that we are on the right track: there is a need for strong, sustained investment and we must continue to work together moving forward. To improve infrastructure across Canada and ensure affordability and sustainability over the long term, our new plan will encourage greater use of public-private partnerships. This will help leverage new investments in infrastructure, while respecting Canadian taxpayers’ ability to pay.

For additional information about the Government of Canada’s infrastructure investments in Ontario and to stay up-to-date with Web feeds, visit www.infrastructure.gc.ca.

For additional information, please contact:

Geneviève Sicard
Office of the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
613-991-0700

David Clifford
Township of Douro-Dummer
705-652-8392 extension 206

Infrastructure Canada
613-960-9251
Toll free: 1-877-250-7154