Project

The Powerade Centre cuts its electricity use during high demand periods and adds to its bottom line by contracting with Enershift under the Ontario Power Authority’s Demand Response 3 initiative.

Background

The 160,000-square-foot sports facility was built in 1998 as the home for the then-new Ontario Hockey League junior team – the Brampton Battalion. The Powerade Centre is a partnership between the City of Brampton and a private investment company that operates the complex’s four ice rinks, special events operation, restaurant and surrounding sports park.

The Powerade Centre is located on 125 acres on the south side of Brampton. The sports park has facilities for rugby, soccer and field hockey, as well as other recreational and community-based activities and services. 

Although the Battalion’s 5,000-seat ice arena is the facility’s major focus and revenue generator, the three other ice surfaces are rented on season-long contracts to other ice users, hockey teams and leagues on a full-season, tournament or single-booking basis.

The spectator arena is also used for trade shows, live entertainment and other spectator events. Although the main surface is not refrigerated from May through August, the three smaller ice surfaces operate throughout the year.

In 2008, the Powerade Centre’s annual electricity consumption was several million kWh. The facility’s electricity cost is several hundred thousands of dollars annually, says Mike Hardcastle, the centre’s general manager.

The challenge

The challenge facing the centre is to balance the capital costs of investing in more energy efficient equipment against the cost savings.

When it opened in 1998, the ice facility had state-of-the art energy-saving technology, but since then there have been major technological improvements in energy efficiency, Mr. Hardcastle says. “Electricity costs can be significantly lowered by installing the more efficient technology that is available now. We are looking for opportunities to cut our energy costs, but financial constraints are a serious consideration.”

A representative of Rodan Energy's Enershift program – (Rodan Energy is a DR3 provider) contacted the Powerade Centre earlier this year about energy savings opportunities available through the OPA’s DR3 initiative. As a major consumer of electricity during the high peak demand period of summer, Powerade was an ideal candidate for the program.

After reviewing the financial benefits of DR3 for the centre, which in a normal summer could be as much as $20,000, the decision was made to commit to the program.

The contractual obligations of DR3 – shutting off power for four consecutive hours during high demand periods – do not affect the Powerade Centre’s first priority – the conditions of the ice and the safety of the users, Mr. Hardcastle says. “We can not put our ice users at risk.”

There is also sufficient flexibility in the contract to allow for changes due to unforeseen circumstances.

DR3 process

Since contracting with Enershift this past spring, the Powerade Centre has shut down its refrigeration system three times. Mr. Hardcastle and two other staff are advised 90 minutes in advance that a shut down will likely to be required.

“With that advance warning we lower our refrigeration a couple of more degrees to help us through the four-hour shut down period,” he says. “Then when we get the call we shut down all the refrigeration in the facility.”

When the refrigeration was restarted, the temperature had increased two degrees above the normal temperature of 21 degrees F. “We were confident that our ice maintenance program – ice surface conditions and operators – would get us through the shut down. Mr. Hardcastle says. “It has been a seamless and painless process.”

The DR 3 solution

For the Powerade Centre, DR3 has also produced two other significant benefits – reducing the facility’s carbon footprint and the stress on its ice surfaces.

“Whenever you can reduce the pressure (by shutting off refrigeration) on the floor you improve your ice. The constant cooling of the concrete floor hour after hour, season after season causes deterioration,” the general manager says.

"We are always looking for ways to reduce our electrical costs while keeping a close eye on our bottom line,” Mr. Hardcastle says. So any time something like this (DR3) comes along it makes perfect sense. “

For information on Rodan Energy’s Enershift program please click here.

Relevant Links

Demand Response - link