OPAÂ’s Community Challenge Day August 14

Count Me In Ontario connects municipalities in a province-wide energy conservation challenge, tracking electricity reduction, IESO-verified results, pledge drives, contests, and an interactive map of participation ahead of August 14.

With Count Me In! Community Challenge Day happening August 14, more and more Ontarians are choosing to take the pledge and to take part.

A campaign that began with just 19 communities announcing their participation on June 3 now has 82 counting themselves in, part of an energy conservation duel among Ontario municipalities today.

To see for yourself, visit the website at www.countmeinontario.ca and check out the interactive map showing how they’re doing.

Designed specially for the campaign, it lists all participating municipalities and identifies how the top 20 are faring with pledges. The website has a lot more to offer, including three different contests, and online resources to support conservation action, plus Earth Hour participation updates you can explore.

Participating municipalities can compete in two different categories:

• The highest percentage drop in electricity consumption on August 14 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., as reflected in the Blackout Day results released previously (the IESO is the referee), and

• The highest per capita participation in the Count Me In! pledge drive, with Count Me In! winners recognized later that week.

Results of the province-wide challenge will be announced at the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in Ottawa on the morning of August 19, highlighting Ontario LDC conservation efforts across participating communities.

Community Challenge Day is the final element of an overall spring-summer energy conservation campaign organized by the Ontario Power Authority. It began with a Leadership Summit on April 23, followed by Ontario’s second province-wide Energy Conservation Week May 17 and 23. All of these initiatives are intended to help Ontario achieve the most ambitious conservation targets in North America and to develop a “culture of conservation.”

If you haven’t made a pledge yet, there’s still time to commit yourself and spread the word to others. If you have made a pledge, please fulfill it on August 14. Say “Count Me In!” to energy conservation and contribute to your own future and that of anyone you care about.

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