Solar City award presentation and electric vehicle event set for June 25

The District of Squamish and the Squamish Alternative Energy Group are pleased to announce that Squamish has become the fifth Canadian Solar City thanks to the Canadian Solar Cities Project (CSCP), a non-profit organization that recognizes communities across the country for leadership in sustainable solar practices. A delegation from the CSCP will present the Solar Cities Sun Dial award to the District of Squamish on Saturday, June 25, 2016. All are invited. 

Canadian Solar Cities Project executive director Bob Haugen will present the award to Mayor Patricia Heintzman at the Synrg Energy office located at 39279 Queens Way in Squamish on June 25 at 11 a.m. The event, which gets underway at 10 a.m., will showcase green energy technologies, and will be attended by a variety of industry professionals. A number of plug-in Electric Vehicles (EVs), Low Speed Electric Vehicles (LSVs), Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Non-Plug-In Hybrid vehicles will also be available for viewing and test drives. A celebration at the Sea to Sky Gondola will follow. Event attendees can enjoy a 20 per cent discount off gondola tickets.

“Squamish is rising to the climate change challenge by taking leadership on facilitating clean energy dialogue and action, such as through the work we are helping to facilitate with the UBC Clean Energy Research Centre and the Squamish Oceanfront development,” says District of Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman. “Solar cities are among the most sustainable places in the world, and by striving to attain such a designation, we are taking another step towards a broader vision of creating opportunities, community resiliency and livability through clean energy practices.”

Communities are chosen for the Solar Cities designation based on a 10-point set of criteria that includes an energy efficiency strategy for municipal buildings, renewable energy targets and a commitment to developing both a climate change and community energy plan. Dawson Creek was the first official Canadian Solar City followed by The City of Colwood, The T’Sou-ke Nation and the City of North Vancouver.

“In a community that receives an average annual rainfall of over 2,000 millimeters, many mistakenly believe that solar energy doesn’t make sense here,” says Squamish Alternative Energy Group Founder Matt Blackman who launched the initiative in 2015 with the goal of building a sustainable Squamish through alternative energy. “Renewable energy depends on many factors including government incentives, community support and actual energy production. Solar happens to be the method that most Canadians are able to afford and utilize.”

For more information, please check the June 25 Facebook event page or email greenpowermachine@gmail.com.

For more information about the Squamish Alternative Energy Group, please go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/863198877047901/.

For more information about the Canadian Solar Cities Project visit http://solarcitiescanada.com.

June 17, 2016