This Is Re-Typed.

Try as I would,it would not copy. It was sent to me.I do not know the author, It was too precious not to share.

Bullfrog power

What is Bullfrog Power. It is a private company that sells clean energy.Green energy.One of the most powerful phrases these days. Right behind open and transparent.Noble. Aurora pays $20,000 a year to bullfrog power and by doing so we reduce emissions from electric power production. Our payment makes an incredible impact on the Town's carbon footprint. One Councillor states that we eliminate 145 tonnes of carbon dioxide,430 tonnes of Sulpheric dioxide and 185kg
of nitric oxide. That's an incredible amount of emissions we save from our children. For just $20,000,wow. A Sherman tank weighs 30 tonnes.

The Councillor got his facts from our town's infrastructure department. I can forgive him for the stats. Myself,I found the numbers staggering. Unbelievable.

Are we to believe if we stop paying Bullfrog Power the equivalent of 65 Sherman tanks of CO2 are going to fall on the residents of Aurora, I don't believe it, not for a minute.

Aurora connsumes 800 MKw of electricity each year.

So do we get all that energy from wind turbines? Does bullfrog bypass the Ontario Power Authority grid and supply Aurora with green energy saving the emissions that the OPA burns to feed their grid.

I went to our town's infrastructure department to ask them where these figures cone from.These were calculations from 2008,the ones that the last term used to inform residents about the good they do here in our Town. Infrastructure would get back to me.

Naturally I went to the web site (do not go to the blogs about bullfrog power,they are not nice) There is reference to factors on how emission calculations are arrived at,It is very detailed ,so much so,that I had no way to understand what it was they were talking about. So are the audited financials,but that's another story.

Anyways, after a while I decided to call Bullfrog Power.The person I spoke to, understood the difficulties in my attempt to figure out the method of calculating the emissions. He would send me numbers later in the day and he did. They were half the emission totals that 2008 calculations had arrived at.

So what sources supply our electric grid here here in Ontario.According to Bullfrog power I was told 33% nuclear,27% natural gas,13%coal,22%hydro and 4% wind/solar.

Clean Air Canada states Ontario uses only 4% coal burning power plants to generate electric power.

It's getting confusing.So does $20,000 get us the equivalent of 800 Mkw of coal burning electric power reductions in emissions. Can't get an answer from bullfrog power either. It's not an easy question to answer.

So where does our $20,000 go? Right off the bat 10% goes to partnering non-profit agencies like WWF (World Wildlife Fund) There are over forty staff on Bullfrog's payroll.The rest goes into three Wind Turbine farms in Ontario. Don't know how big these farms are or how much electricity they produce. When we pay our money, Bullfrog pours 800 MKw of wind turbine electricity into the OPA grid. The OPA pays Bullfrog market rates for electricity. (Can we say double-dipping) We still draw our electricity from the grid as we did before. We just feel better about it ,than those not participating,because we get a sticker on the doors of the Town Hall. Bullfrog grows its equity and this private company gets richer,

Can we do better with taxpayers money? Are there options? Absolutely

Municipalities are the Number 2 consumer of electricity in Ontario. It is our responsibility to provide leadership.There are lots of Municipalities featured on Bullfrog's website. There are even a few Mayors that give speeches patting themselves on their backs. One of them was once Aurora's Mayor. She speaks glowingly about herself and Bullfrog.

Clean Air Canada also states that Ontarians have reduced their consumption by 10%.

That's an option that Aurora should explore. Efficiencies and reductions. Lessen the Carbon footprint by reducing our operating expense ,thereby reducing taxes to the residents.

Edmonton has a Revolving Energy Management Fund. Initially it began with $1 million. So quick was the payback, their fund has grown to $30 million. So successful was the program. The idea was to put money into the infrastructure in energy saving equipment, realize the savings ,and once they add up to the funds invested,re-invest into further energy saving equipment. It pays for itself in electric consumption savings.That's leadership. That's where Aurora should be heading.Forget about membership fees to join a fell good club.Let's make a difference right here in our town. Invest in Aurora and save the taxpayers money. Oh yeah, save the world and make it a better place to live, make a difference in the carbon footprint. Next Christmas get a present under the tree instead of a membership in a feel good private company. Geez.

I suspect certain members from the last term were gullible and vain.That can result in poor decisions costing the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. Hard earned dollars on the backs of hard-working Aurorans. Got to eliminate that item on this year's budget.