York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and PowerStream board chair and Town of Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti have announced a significant investment towards sustainable energy research and student awards for the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University.
PowerStream, the second-largest municipally-owned electricity distribution company in Ontario, has pledged a gift of $930,000 to support scholarship, research and student awards in the area of sustainable energy economics and innovation.
“We are pleased that PowerStream has made this significant investment at York University,” said Shoukri. “This transformative gift will help continue to shape environmental studies by allowing our students the ability to focus on their studies and research, and faculty the opportunity to enhance their leadership in the field of sustainable energy.”
The donation is directed to the Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI) in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. With this donation, York will establish the PowerStream Chair in Sustainable Energy Economics, the PowerStream Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund, the PowerStream Graduate Awards in Sustainable Energy and the PowerStream Undergraduate Awards in Sustainable Energy. York will also name a hall after PowerStream in its Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies (HNES) building.
“This donation directly aligns with PowerStream’s vision of being a socially responsible company committed to the environment and sustainable growth,” said Scarpitti. “By investing in environmental education at York University we are helping to build a more forward thinking workforce that will help us meet Ontario’s socio-economic needs of the future, which includes graduating students who will one day work in our industry to champion the environmental initiatives of electricity distribution companies like PowerStream.”
York’s Sustainable Energy Initiative was established to support sustainable energy in Ontario through research, education, and partnerships between educational institutions, government agencies, non-governmental organizations as well as business and industry. More than a dozen faculty members and associated professionals involved in the initiative are educating the next cohort of sustainable energy practitioners to meet the demand created by the Ontario government’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act and by similar initiatives in other jurisdictions.
PowerStream provides service to more than 335,000 customers residing or owning a business in communities located immediately north of Toronto and in Central Ontario. The communities served include Alliston, Aurora, Barrie, Beeton, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Markham, Penetanguishene, Richmond Hill, Thornton, Tottenham and Vaughan. PowerStream is an incorporated entity, jointly owned by the City of Barrie, the City of Vaughan and the Town of Markham.