oct-2017

214 215 rants. Allore says, “You get that synergy of peo- ple visiting the waterfront and downtown. And Scugog is known in the region for festivals and events which happen every weekend throughout the summer, when the downtown and waterfront are flooded with visitors.” As Scugog envisions its incipient growth, Rowett would also like to see the town become a living laboratory for new technologies that foster better communication, as well as a place that promotes green programs and practices that are sustainable and environmentally-friendly. For example, he reports that the town is ready to retrofit its municipal street lighting with LED bulbs, but he wants to integrate the upgrade with Smart City initiatives, such as adaptive controls for the system. He imagines such other amenities as community Wi-FI, small cell phone PREFERRED VENDOR n Hydro One Networks www.hydroone.com Hydro One is an electricity transmission and distribution utility. It operates 97percent of the high voltage transmission grid through- out Ontario, and serves 1.3 million customers in rural areas across the province in its capacity as Ontario’s largest distribution utility. SCUGOG, ONTARIO technology, autonomous cars, and electric vehicle stations powered by alternative power sources flowing through supplementary micro-grids. “We’re looking to see how we can make this the Smart City environment of the future,” he declares. We have a small enough municipality that we can be nimble with these new technol- ogies as they roll out, but it’s also close enough to the largest population in Canada – the Greater Toronto Area - to be able to showcase and pilot what can be done with technologies that integrate with our infrastructure if lever- aged properly.” The future is coming to Scugog, Ontario, and the town is ready. “We have excellent opportu- nities to mix old and new,” Rowett states, em- phatically. “We have a community that has a bit of everything.We’re very fortunate.”