Leader staff

The Town of Slave Lake is participating in the Recreation Energy Conservation Program for projects at the Multi-Recreation Centre. For upgrades that reduce energy use, or cut greenhouse gas emissions, federal grants are offered.
It started with an ‘energy scope audit’ back in 2019.

The next step was to purchase an electric ice resurfacing machine (which may or may not be the Zamboni brand). More recently, the town upgraded to use variable frequency drives (VFDs) on a number of pumps and installed the REALice system.

The VFD is a control system that allows pumps to work on demand, varying their speed as required (vs. turning either on or off). The REALice system will allow the town to use cooler water temperatures for flooding ice (and in the future, will be able to make ice with cold water).

While both projects are ‘behind the scenes,’ they are anticipated to provide enough energy savings to provide a return on investment to the town in one or two years.

A rebate will be provided by the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (also federal) to help support these projects.