What's Happening in Hamilton, ON…

A recent announcement has revealed that the Ontario government will help to fund a research project at Hamilton’s McMaster University.

The study will look into reducing the demand for energy and also the cost for the consumer. Two of the researchers will come from the DeGroote School of Business at the McMaster Department of Economics, and it will also involve the services of an Ottawa software company and Hydro One.

The Government will be contributing one million dollars to the project, making it one of 17 different studies to receive funding from the Ontario Smart Grid Fund. It has been set up to find ways to use new technology to benefit energy consumers, and is expected to create 350 jobs throughout the province. This comes on the heels of an announcement by Ontario’s Auditor General that consumers are paying far more than what they should be for the energy they use.

The study will look into how members of the public choose pricing plans and also how they conserve energy based upon the plan that they chose. The researchers will receive feedback from the participants as well as their appliances, which will be enhanced with technology that will record their fuel consumption.

At the end of the study, a catalog printing firm will be able to produce printed versions of the results for distribution to anyone who may be interested in reading them.