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4 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2012 Halton Hills Hydro pilot project mounts solar panels on hydro poles in town Halton Hills Hydro (HHH) powerline technician Hessel Faber ­ high up in a cherry picker at a hydro pole in Ballinafad ­ had a captive audience as he helped launch a solar power pilot project which marries renewable energy with so-called smart grid technology last Thursday morning. For just under 30 minutes, that audience, which included crews from Canada News Wire, The Weather Network, local press, HHH and industry officials, local politicians and guests watched as Faber bolted on the panel, hooked it up and announced it was producing energy, up to one kWh daily to be used by HHH's 20,000 urban and rural customers. The success HHH had with 16 solar panels installed two years ago on treeless, south-facing poles ­ including several on Tanners Drive ­ convinced the mid-size utility to expand the program to 200 poles ­ 60 of them will be in Acton. If the project is successful, it could be expanded, to as many as 1,400 poles, which could power 50 homes in Halton Hills. While Faber drilled, bolted and connected wires, Mayor Rick Bonnette said he was "excited" by the project which "reduces our carbon footprint, while respecting the natural heritage of our community." "I am pleased to be a part of this project and hope that the Town of Halton Hills becomes a model community that other municipalities throughout the province will emulate and install these solar panels on poles throughout their communities as well," Bonnette said. Art Skidmore, HHH President and CEO said the pilot project combines renewable energy SOLAR PILOT: At the launch of Halton Hills Hydro's solar power imitative last Thursday in Ballinafad, powerline technicians Hessel Faber (left) and Matt Stephens were joined by Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette and HHH CEO and President Art Skidmore. - Frances Learment photo generation and smart grid technology to provide real-time information about the panels and distribution system. Smart grid technology involves using computer-based remote control and automation and Skidmore said it is beneficial to HHH and its customers with energy efficiency on the grid and in the users' homes and offices. "The benefits to our customers will be realtime monitoring. We'll be able to provide outage notifications to our staff as things happen," Skidmore said, adding because the panels generate power close to where it's needed, meaning less distribution losses. He said the investment in the solar panel project will have an estimated impact of less than $1 per year per customers, with anticipated long-range benefits of improved technology and monitoring. The solar panels are supplied by Harvester Energy, a subsidiary of Halton Hills Community Energy Corporation and a Canadian distributor of the technology. PUBLIC NOTICE The Town of Halton Hills has submitted a request for an amendment to By-law 2010-0037 (Municipal Cemeteries By-law) to the Ministry of Consumer Services. The amendments are required to comply with the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, 2002 that came into effect in July 2012. The major changes to the municipal by-law resulting from the legislation include: · Consumer protection measures including the provision of specific material at the time of a sale, the format of contracts and interment rights certificates, and the addition of a thirty day cancellation period from the date entering into a contract; · A restriction on the resale of unused interment rights: the new legislation allows the Town to prohibit the resale of interment rights on the open market, as reflected in the proposed by-law; · The requirement for Formal Agreements between funeral homes and cemeteries when sales representatives may be selling products or arranging services on the other party's behalf. In addition to the new legislative requirements, the existing by-law has been updated to reflect the following operational issues such as supplemental definitions, the provision of interments all year round during specific conditions, and specifications for monument inscriptions and marker sizes. The Town's by-law amendments are not in effect until approved by the Registrar of the Cemeteries Regulation Unit of the Ministry of Consumer Services. Copies of the draft by-law are available at the Town of Halton Hills Civic Centre, Recreation and Parks Department (lower level) located at 1 Halton Hills Drive or by visiting the Town's website at www.haltonhills.ca/cemeteries until November 30, 2012. Inquiries and written submissions may be directed to: Cemeteries Regulation Unit Ministry of Consumer Services 5775 Yonge Street, Suite 1500 Toronto, ONT M7A 2E5 1-800-889-9768 www.ontario.ca/consumerservices OR Manager of Parks and Open Space Recreation and Parks Department -Town of Halton Hills 1 Halton Hills Drive Halton Hills, ONT L7G 5G2 (905)873-2601 extension 2274 warrenh@haltonhills.ca PANEL INSTALLATION: Halton Hills Hydro powerline technician Hessel Faber made installing a solar panel on a hydro pole in Ballinafad look easy last Thursday as a crowd watched at the launch of Hydro's imitative that marries renewable energy with so-called smart grid technology. ­ Frances Learment photo What's Your Beef? Deadline is Tuesday at noon. Put it in a letter to the Editor! It's better than just chewing your cud!