Even though the cold is still very much with us, it’s a good sign when the entire Rotary meeting is in daylight.

 

Guests this morning:

Diane Mayall

Gerry Smallegange, guest speaker

Jennifer Smith, Burl. Hydro

Kyle Leroye, guest of Karmel Sakran

Cailey Bonikowsky, Rotaract

Kristi Smith, Rotaract

Johanne Pelletier

 

RI President Gary Huang – March 23, speaking in Guelph. Let Pres. Catherine know if you would like to attend.

 

Little Libraries – sign up sheets for this hands on project will be available next week.

 

Rotaract Pub Quiz – Sunday, March 8

Rotaract Club president Cailey Bonikowsky invited us to participate in their 4^th annual Pub Quiz at the Black Bull. There are 3 rounds of questions with draws and prizes. Cost to enter a team of 4 is $35, proceeds going to Sleeping Children Around the World. Sheila has already started a couple teams, so let her or Catherine know if you would like to join in.

 

Paul Harris Presentation- #2 PH to Cuppy Katz. Congratulations!

 

Juliette – Juliette returned from the winter camp at YMCA Wanakita, a bit tired, but full of happy stories. She got to spend time with the 14 District inbounds, and meet all 17 outbounds. Activities included cross-country skiing, orienteering, snowshoeing and of course building a quinzee and spending one night in it. She thanked Sheila and Dean, our club representatives, and all club members for allowing her to have one of “the best weekends I have had, I won’t ever forget it!”

 

London Calling Fashion Show – April 30, keep tuned to this station for more details.

 

Sgt. Rene – Rene fined himself for having too much fun in Florida last week. Glenn W. was fined for illegal parking, David R. for his facial scruff, Nancy B. for her Facebook muscle pose.

Happy $ - David R. for vacation in St. Maarten and upcoming one somewhere else warm; Anthony F-J for trip to Jamaica; Owen M. for his 1^st daughter getting engaged; Nancy B. for Nancy Penney doing so well; Sheila W. for surviving Wanakita; Lawrence L. for Chinese New Year; Bob M. for a friendly Aussie woman bailing out his son who had accommodation stress.

 

 

Guest Speaker – Gerry Smallegange, Pres. & CEO, Burlington Hydro

I have attached a pdf of Gerry’s very interesting presentation, but here are some key points:

 

 

• 20% of your bill is Burlington Hydro, 80% is the province

• rates will stay flat for this spring

• with 100 employees and 66,000 customers, Burlington Hydro is the 12^th largest utility in the province, but ranked #4 in reliability

• capacity has been upgraded over recent years: the City uses about 400 megawatts, but BH has capacity for 500, which is vital on those hot days when everyone cranks up their AC

• electricity use is constant; for example, your PVR is the largest static electricity user in your house as it is always on, costs about $15/yr by itself

• BH has developed a Community Energy Plan that addresses all sources of energy and consumption in the City and how to make us more efficient and businesses self reliant through the Micro-grid program

• BH approval rating in Burlington is 92%, 10% higher than other Ontario utilities

• after the ice storm last year, they had to basically rebuild their whole infrastructure north of Hwy 5; but it resulted in a new Outage Management System, where you can go to the BH website for an outage map, and their Twitter feed keeps Burlington up-to-date with power outages

• also go to their website for conservation programs and energy saving tips

 

Gerry finished by asking is we would be interested in partnering with them in keep the Burlington Festival of Lights going.  Burlington Hydro has been the major sponsor over the past several years, but costs are mounting.  Vandalism this year cost $25,000 in damage, and BH had just invested $150,000 to rebuild many of the outdated displays.  The event costs over $100,000 each year to run: displays are very expensive, and if they don’t get volunteers to put them up, he has to pay BH employees.