The City of Ontario, Southern California is initiating its infrastructure renewal program – “Smart Ontario” – to improve safety, efficiency, and connectivity. The city expects to see a savings of US$75 million in utility and operating costs over the life of the new equipment, and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by more than 10,000 tons annually.
The program will be funded by the California Energy Commission Energy Conservation Assistance Act (ECAA), Southern California Edison utility rebates, California Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) and a tax-exempt municipal lease.
“The city constantly strives for fiscal prudence in order to ensure our community’s sustainability and resiliency,” said Scott Ochoa, Ontario City Manager. “By improving the efficiency of our infrastructure on this scale, the city is able to reallocate taxpayer dollars for better uses, such as recovering from the pandemic.”
Planned improvements include LED streetlight conversions equipped with smart streetlight dimming controls; new high-efficiency heating, cooling and ventilation equipment and temperature controls; interior and exterior LED lighting in municipal buildings and parks; solar panel structures and solar thermal systems in public facilities; and battery storage systems for backup power at critical sites. Expected completion is expected by summer of 2022.
“The city is committed to exploring all environmentally conscious options that are available to us,” said Ontario Mayor Paul Leon. “This investment is going to alleviate both our budget constraints and the environmental pressures we face. It’s a no-brainer considering these improvements came to us at extremely competitive rates, pay for themselves over time, inject more life into our local construction economy and free up resources for vital programs and services our community has come to rely on the city for.