Public involvement helps us engage our community in meaningful conversations as we learn to better serve our customers and support Kingston’s goal of becoming A Smart and Livable 21st Century City.
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Community Involvement
Highlights
- Proud supporter of Sustainable Kingston, helping to make Kingston Canada’s Most Sustainable City.
- Support for Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College through research collaboration and class presentations.
- Employees raised $27,328 for United Way, achieving the Cornerstone Achievement Award and Sapphire Britton Smith Foundation Leadership Award.
- Hosted a visiting professional from the Water And Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (WASA) to learn about wastewater operations in Kingston.
Nishana Ramsawak, Quality Control Supervisor with WASA, became aware of Utilities Kingston through her involvement with Waterlution, a Canadian organization concerned with water issues.
Awards Received
Utilities Kingston is proud to be recognized in the utility industry for our work in building a better community. We were pleased to accept the following awards in 2018:
- Municipal Employee of the Year Recognition Award from the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce, presented to Jim Keech, president and CEO
- Chair's Citation, from the Electricity Distributors Association (EDA), presented to Jim Keech, president and CEO
- Technical Standards & Safety Authority (TSSA) Safety Impact Award
- Canadian Electricity Association Centre of Excellence Recognition
Jim Keech, centre, is joined by staff members at the EDA’s annual awards gala.
Boards and Memberships
We’re part of the fabric of our community and proud to serve on these boards and memberships:
- SWITCH – Board of Directors
- Sensus Partner and Advisor Network – Canadian Subcommittee Chair; General Membership Vice Chair
- Plug’n Drive – Board of Directors
- Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA) – Kingston Region Geographic Council - Co-Chair
The Kingston Region Geographic Council of the ORCGA held its annual meeting at Utilities Kingston’s main offices in November, 2018.
- Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA) – Gas/Oil Distribution Stakeholder Group - Board Member
- Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) - Municipal Advisory Committee
- Canadian Standards Association (CSA) – Member
- Ontario Municipal Water Association (OMWA) - Board of Directors
- Canadian Gas Association (CGA) - Health and Safety Committee - Member
- Canadian Gas Association (CGA) - Asset Integrity Management Task Force - Member
- Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) Kingston Labour-Management Health & Safety committees – Construction - Member
- Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Achievable Potential Study Group
- Canadian Biogas Association - Renewable Natural Gas Information Network - Member
- Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) Net Zero Working Group – Member
- WaterTAP - Change Leaders Lab - Member
- Membership in the following organizations, serving on various sub-committees:
- Canadian Electricity Association
- Utility Technology Council
- Intelligent Community Forum
- Utility Standards Forum
- Electricity Distributors Association
- GridSmartCity
- Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce
- American Water Works Association
- Ontario Water Works Association
- Canadian Water and Wastewater Association
- Canadian Water Network - Municipal Consortium
- Water Research Foundation
- Kingston Home Builders Association
- Ontario Energy Association
- Ontario Good Roads Association
Sponsorship
Through local sponsorship, we give back to the community we serve:
- The Chamber of Commerce – Business before Business Breakfast Series
- GridSmart City – McMaster Collaborative Research Project
- Earth Day Kingston
- Queen’s University – Water Innovation Lab Canada
- Queen’s University – Queen’s International Innovation Challenge
- Sustainable Kingston – Evening of Recognition
- 53d Shark 24 World Championship Regatta
- Eastern Ontario Water Works Association (EOWWA) - 61st Annual Conference
- Great Lakes Water Festival
- Waterlution - Aqua Hacking 2018 conference
- Queen’s Water Environment Conference
- Queen's University - Cirque 2018
- St. Lawrence College – Kingston Hydro Award for Sustainable Energy Leadership
The Kingston Hydro Award for Sustainable Energy Leadership was presented to Caroline Kirkwood in 2018.
Innovation through Research Partnerships
Continued improvement and innovation are our focus in these recent research partnerships. Thanks to our partners for these opportunities!
- Evanco Environmental to advance the use of an innovative approach to water main cleaning and relining that prevents corrosion and material build-up to improve reliability.
- Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) and University of Western Ontario on their project “Lot-Side/Backwater Valve Research Project”, studying the reliability and maintenance of plumbing components.
- Queen's University on their Natural Sciences and Research Council (NSERC) funded project “Bio-oil Recovery & CO2 Recycling by Waste Stream Enhanced Microalgael Growth & Low Energy CO2-Related Extraction” to use municipal wastewater and waste industrial heat to grow algae and produce a low carbon, greenhouse gas free fuel.
- Low Carbon Building Skills Program with St. Lawrence College – developed a case study highlighting the work on identifying the embedded cost of electricity in water, which was used to leverage conservation funding in support of the Utilities Kingston Water Loss Reduction Program.
We're connecting with the people in our community and helping to make it an even more awesome city! Thanks for your support, everyone. Left to right: bucket rides at our United Way Success by Six event, the water buggy at the Children's Water Festival at Lake Ontario Park, receiving a TSSA safety award in Ottawa, fundraising for the United Way workplace campaign, and a wastewater treatment tour for Aqua Hacking conference goers.