By Steve and Anne Wildfong
•
17 Aug, 2023
As a final chapter to our Sun Dog blog, it would be amiss without acknowledging our family’s sincere gratitude to our business and tourism partners who made our transition from hydro to solar energy, a very successful and rewarding journey for all who were involved. To show our appreciation we hosted everyone for a ribbon cutting ceremony, tour, and lunch at our property in Lakefield. Attendees included: ⦁ Martina Chait-Hartwig, Township Clerk – Representing our local Mayor Heather Watson, Township of Douro Dummer ⦁ Joe Rees, Director of Tourism for Peterborough and the Kawartha’s Economic Development ⦁ Tegan Moss, Executive Director, GreenUp, and Jackie Donaldson, Lili Paradi – GreenUp Economy Peterborough ⦁ Paulette Prentice, Director General FedDev Southern Ontario – Representing the Honourable MP Filomena Tassi ⦁ JP Pawliu and Simon Boone – owners of Generation Solar ⦁ Rob Irwin and Mark Davidson- Whippletree ⦁ Jessica Gordon – Peterborough Chamber of Commerce ⦁ Steve, Anne and Jakob Wildfong – Owners, Lake Edge Cottages ⦁ Long-term guests of Lake Edge Cottages The media coverage included: Global News, and a variety of others: Global News video The Peterborough Examiner Kawartha Now PTBO Canada The Wolf News Energy Portal As of this writing, we are well on track to meet the solar generation targets that will give back 110% of our traditional hydro annual burn rate. This brings to mind other, less obvious benefits, such as: helping Hydro One and our community, by giving them access to our excess energy that we produce during the warmer seasons, which reduces stress from the grid. The amount of electricity that Hydro borrows from us is measured ongoing and reported on our monthly statement as a month/month accumulated credit owing back to us. This accumulated ‘tax-free’ credit is then used by us during the cooler months of year when we produce less (due to less daylight hours, snow on the roof, cloudy days, etc.) Sun-Dog also provides a clean energy foundation to build upon as we go forward – such as EV charging, and using more electric heat over gas during the cooler months, purchasing an electric vehicle. And, our positive client feedback so far has been phenomenal, as they feel good knowing that we’re investing progressively in the future of Lake Edge Cottages and the future generations to follow. Overall, this project has been a very positive experience for my family. Our children (now adults), muse at seeing their parents in the news and on tv, while making a positive impact within our local tourism, business and client communities. Looking back, I would do it all again. As I mentioned to the media: This isn’t just about preserving our past, but also giving hope to our younger generations.
