Estevan's city council is looking at a new funding source that could help the community in its energy transition.

The Targeted Sector Support Grant Funding consists of a 75-per-cent cost-covering program, up to $100,000, for eligible costs.

That would be done through Southeast College, with the grant including roundtables for councils, leaders, and industry experts to determine the energy knowledge gaps.

Those would then be worked on through workshops and overall energy transition, carbon capture and storage, geothermal, and other energy services.

The return on investment for Estevan would be 45 seats of full-day training which would include municipal staff, council community stakeholders, consultation with neighboring communities to enhance networking and collaborative opportunities, and an increase in capacity for the participating communities through engagement and education.

Mayor Roy Ludwig said that this funding would align with what the city is looking at doing in the future.

"The City has been endeavoring to capitalize on strategic grants that promote economic diversification and progression in Estevan. The proposed grant would facilitate positive progress towards increasing estimated capacity, sharing and learning best practices with energy transition, and improving collaboration for future energy-related projects."

Afterward, he took questions from council, with Councillor Tony Sernick bringing up whether this would be done through a new committee, raising a concern that it intersected with other groups already established by the City.

City Manager Jeff Ward stated that'd be something they looked at if the application was accepted, with that possibly being linked with the Innovation Council or the Economic Development Committee.

Councillor Lindsay Clark asked whether other communities, such as Weyburn and Coronach, had been already briefed and accepted on the funding or if they would work with other municipalities after getting the funding.

Ward again responded, saying that Southeast College was working with local municipalities, with him looking to chat again to make sure they had talked with other communities.

The motion was made to approve the funding request which was passed unanimously by the councillors.

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