FortisBC Annual Awards Honour 10 Top Energy Savers

May 28, 2018

FortisBC Efficiency in Action Awards have recognized 10 regional organizations who achieved outstanding energy savings in their sectors over the past year. The organizations have all demonstrated innovation in reducing their electricity and natural gas use, increasing the energy efficiency of their buildings and operations, and helping to meet BC’s climate action goals.

Through their combined efforts, this year’s award recipients reduced electricity use by 6,700 megawatt hours (equivalent to the annual electricity use of 600 homes) and natural gas use by more than 12,000 gigajoules annually (equivalent to the annual natural gas use of 140 homes).

“The people at these organizations are leading the way in reducing energy use in our communities,” says Dennis Swanson, vice president, energy supply and resource development, FortisBC. “We applaud their drive to go beyond standard energy efficiency, their creativity in finding affordable ways to incorporate this into their projects, and their success in gaining support within their organizations.”

Central Okanagan Public Schools and Interior Health led the way in reducing energy use in the region by pursuing higher energy efficiency year after year in both their new projects and facility upgrades.

“We’re always looking for ways to creatively reduce energy use,” said Harold Schock, energy and sustainability manager, Central Okanagan Public Schools. “It lowers the cost of the utilities and puts more money into the classrooms. In fact, we’ve kept the school district’s utility budget the same since 2010 despite growing our floor space by 5%.”

Interior Health continues to build their facilities to high-efficiency standards to both manage ongoing utility costs and lower their overall energy footprint.

“Health care is very energy-intensive, impacting the environment, our budgets and, ultimately, the services we provide to the people in our care. That’s why we’re focused on environmental sustainability,” says Donna Lommer, Vice President, Support Services and Chief Financial Officer, Interior Health. “By embedding sustainability principles and practices into our every day, we are improving our environmental footprint and financial health, as well as focusing our resources where it’s needed most – on patient, client and resident care.”

FortisBC supports thousands of customers each year and in 2017 alone, provided customers with approximately $26 million in incentives to help lower electricity and natural gas usage. As a result, these customers reduced their electricity use by 27,800 megawatt hours (equivalent to the annual electricity use of about 2,600 homes) and natural gas use by 533,000 gigajoules (equivalent to the annual natural gas use of 6,000 homes).