$3 Billion Energy & Water Conservation Retrofit

The Toronto City Council has just approved in principal a proposal to coordinate a massive energy and water conservation program. Viewed as a way to create jobs for the city’s ailing construction sector, the plan calls for investments averaging $14,000 per unit on 75% of the city’s 280,000 residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Although it would coordinate the project, the City of Toronto would not actually be financing any of the work. The money would come instead in the form of grants from utility companies (primarily Ontario Hydro) as part of their investment in conservation, and loans from banks and other lending agencies, to be repaid by building owners through their utility bills.

The unique aspect of this proposal is that it would use the city’s authority to attach certain debts to tax bills as a way of insuring the loans for the lenders. Officials at Chase Manhattan Bank have already expressed interest in this initiative. The building owner should still realize significant savings, as their payments will always be less than the amount saved by the measures taken.