LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
I am honoured to be the inaugural Chair of the Centre for Community Energy Transformation. This letter will briefly summarize why we were created and our activities to date.
In 2018, a vision for the future for Brampton was developed and endorsed by council. Called “Brampton 2040 Vision: Living the Mosaic”, one of the actions it called for was the creation of an “Institute for Sustainable Brampton”. Over the next year, a task force was formed to develop the idea further which was presented to council in 2019. It was then agreed that the Institute should focus on energy management and carbon emissions and expand to include the entire Region of Peel, resulting in the name change to the Centre for Community Energy Transformation (CCET). A CCET Advisory Task Force was then created and their work resulted in the report “A Path Forward”. This report developed a Vision, Mission and Mandate for the organization which were subsequently used by CCET.
- Vision – A sustainable energy future
- Mission – To lead an inclusive suburban energy transformation
- Mandate – CCET will be focused on convening partners to implement catalytic priorities to accelerate a community transition towards a low-carbon future.
The report also identified four key areas of focus for CCET which have subsequently been used as an initial strategic plan. These are:
- Advancing deep home energy retrofits.
- District energy adoption.
- Spurring industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) energy efficiency.
- Promoting climate change related outreach and engagement.
With initial funding from the Region of Peel as well as Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon, a volunteer board was created in early 2022 from applicants who applied to serve on the interim board. One of the first tasks was to incorporate as an independent non-profit corporation which was granted in May 2022 and the interim board were then appointed to serve as the founding directors of this new corporation.
During the next few months, two board committees (Governance and Finance) were formed and began to develop board policies, develop a budget, select a bookkeeper and accountants and most importantly, begin the search for the first Executive Director.
While the search process took longer than we had hoped, we were delighted to be able to hire Tony Iacobelli in the summer of 2023. Tony has had a very successful career as a sustainability leader and environmental planner having spearheaded a range of initiatives in the non-profit and municipal government sectors including experience in the development and implementation of various energy initiatives.
Other activities have included the formation of a 25 member Advisory Committee that has now met twice and will continue to meet two times a year. We have also formed a Municipal Working Group that meets on a more regular basis to engage in strategic discussions with our principal funding partners.
In closing I would like to thank our volunteer board members, our very dedicated staff and our four municipal partners for all they have done in getting CCET up and going.
We welcome your comments and suggestions and hope we can count on your support to help us achieve a sustainable energy future in Peel Region.
Peter Love, Board Chair