Standard village council are contemplating the use of solar panels on its municipal buildings following the success of the Village of Stirling offsetting its municipal electricity usage.

During the regular Wednesday, November 8 council meeting, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Yvette April explained she had had discussions with neighbouring Village of Rockyford CAO Lori Miller, followed by discussions with Stirling CAO Scott Donselaar.

CAO April explained the Village of Stirling has been able to not only offset its electricity usage, but has also been able to generate profit by returning additional power to the grid. Stirling has also formed its own utility company-Ridge Utilities-which offers electricity, natural gas, and internet services across southern Alberta, and further generates revenues for the municipality.

Deputy Mayor Adam Sommerfeldt, who teaches at Wheatland Crossing School, noted he had visited the village with other science teachers to learn about the project.

He explained, while Stirling is a net-zero village, this does not mean the solar panels are generating electricity for the entire village. Instead the solar panels help to offset costs for various municipal infrastructures and buildings such as the fire department and village office, and the sewer lift station.

Council directed administration to reach out to user groups within the community, such as the Standard Library and the Standard and Rosebud Arena, to share their electric utility bills for research purposes and determine if there is interest in moving forward with a municipal solar project.

Alberta-owned grocery group, Freson Bros. Market, is proud to have been awarded the 2023 Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba/NWT/Nunavut Regional Awards in all three store size categories–Small, Medium, and Large Surface.
Each year, the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG) Awards Program recognizes the success of outstanding independent retailers. Each year, independent grocery stores from coast to coast in Canada compete for the coveted titles. Each of the competing stores is visited personally by a highly respected retail management expert, who evaluates competing stores based on retailing excellence and innovation, store team performance, customer service, space utilization, freshness and cleanliness.
This year the top-scoring stores in the Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba/NWT/Nunavut Region in the small, medium and large size categories were all Freson Bros. stores.

Small Surface Category:
Don Boos & Team, Freson Bros. Hanna

Medium Surface Category:
Austin Jessome & Team, Freson Bros. Barrhead

Large Surface Category:
Ryan Durnie & Team, Freson Bros. Fort Saskatchewan
Doug Lovsin, President attributes Freson Bros.’ continued success to the team’s unwavering commitment to Family, Community and Heritage.
“These awards are a testament to Freson Bros.’ ability to offer Alberta with a unique fresh food shopping experience. This is the foundation of our brand and who we are.”
Mr. Lovsin added that Fort Saskatchewan store manager, Ryan Durnie, is the son of Mary Lou Durnie and the late Alf Durnie of Drumheller and started his grocery career at the Drumheller store.