Corporate Citizenship

In living up to our social responsibility commitments, we offer a variety of outreach programs to make meaningful contributions to the cultural, social and economic well-being of the many communities we impact through our operations. Examples of initiatives and performance that support our long-term social goals are included in this section of the report.

Corporate and Regional Donations

In fiscal 2005 BC Hydro supported a variety of community initiatives and programs throughout the province, contributing over $1 million to approximately 370 projects. Donations were made in support of arts and culture. Aboriginal initiatives, community investment, education and the environment, as well as to post-secondary scholarships.

Showing a continued commitment to education, BC Hydro donated a total of $52,000 to 13 colleges across the province in order to top up existing BC Hydro Scholarship Endowments, ensuring that a minimum of $500 is awarded annually to eligible students. In addition, we donated $50,000 to the Nelson and District Museum, Archives, Art Gallery and Historical Society to establish a permanent hydroelectric exhibit for public display.

Corporate/Regional Donations

	04/05	03/04	02/03	01/02	00/01
Amount Allocated Dollars (in thousands)	1,035	1,000	1,000	1,150	3,000
Percentage Allocation
Arts and Culture	5	7	3	9	22
Education	14	2	0	4	20
Environment	4	10	8	12	9
United Way	17	17	21	26	9
Aboriginal	8	7	12	5	13
Regional	24	22	27	24	10
Scholarships	13	10	16	12	11
To Employees’ Community Services Fund	10	10	11	8	3
Community Investment	7	15	3	0	3

In 2004/2005, BC Hydro focused funding on initiatives that best complemented its business objectives. The performance spending was dependent on the number of applications, the BC Hydro business “fit”, and the amounts requested and allocated.

Employees and Retirees Social Commitment

The BC Hydro Employees’ Community Services Fund ( HYDRECS) is an employee/retiree-driven fund that supports Canadian registered charities based in British Columbia in the health or social service sector.

HYDRECS runs an annual “Special Projects” fundraising campaign for employees and retirees throughout the province. The ”Special Projects” are a combination of charities offering one provincial and four regional programs benefiting communities in British Columbia. Employees and retirees can also donate directly to the charities of their choice. Total employee (HYDRECS) donations for the year totalled $811,000. Additionally, the HYDRECS Fund supports charities throughout the year with its Community Growth and Relationship Funds.

The BC Hydro Power Pioneers Association is made up of 2,700 retired BC Hydro employees and their spouses with 15 branches throughout British Columbia. Their motto, "Continuing a Lifetime of Service to our Communities," was demonstrated by the over 100,000 hours of community service recorded in calendar 2004 for many local charities and service clubs. Some of their Provincial partnership projects include: Youth Community Service Awards, Regional School Science Fairs (Power Smart Award), B.C. Seniors Games, Seniors Safety and Crime Prevention (Wise Owl Program) and BC Children’s Hospital annual projects.

Employee (HYDRECS) Donations

Dollars (in thousands)	04/05	03/04	02/03	01/02	00/01
COPE (formerly OPEIU), IBEW, M&P	539	550	766	777	688
Fundraisers	30	32	7	26	2
BC Hydro Retirees	90	93	88	82	80
Corporate Donation	100	100	100	96	96
50/50 Draws	52	52	53	n/a	n/a
Total	811	827	1,014	981	866

Through the BC Hydro Employees’ Community Services (HYDRECS) Fund, registered charities in the health and social service sector in B.C. benefit from the generosity of BC Hydro and Powerex employees and retirees. Contributions made in 2002/2003 and prior include those employees transferred to BCTC and Accenture.

Public Safety

Our Public Safety Awareness Program is aimed at increasing public awareness concerning our facilities, thereby limiting the number of incidents with our system. Delivery of specific programs continued in fiscal 2005 and targeted four audience groups:

• elementary school children through Play It Safe and high school students, through ElectroJuice
• firefighters, police and ambulance personnel through the first responder program
• industrial workers through 7 Steps to Electrical Safety and advertising
• the general public through advertising

Public Accidents Involving BC Hydro Facilities

Number

	04/05	03/04	02/03	01/02	00/01	99/00	98/99	97/98
Incidents	968	1,009	1,089	965	976	1,046	1,278	1,284
Public fatalities, actual	2	1	0	1	1	1	1	5
Public fatalities, target	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

This performance measure includes any public incidents that involve our system. It captures all injuries, fatalities, or the obvious potential for these outcomes to the general public. While the incidents may involve damage to BC Hydro facilities, they do not include vehicle accidents. BC Hydro’s ability to control the occurrence of public incidents is limited; however, the company consistently provides public awareness programming with a focus on higher risk groups, and increases its investment if the number of incidents or fatalities increases. Annually, BC Hydro conducts risk and trend analysis to identify changes (particularly higher risk issues) and/or affirm the effectiveness of the programming. The number of incidents over last year is within the random variation observed year over year. BC Hydro’s target for 2005/2006 remains at zero fatalities.

Associations and Memberships

BC Hydro participates in many associations that help advance triple bottom line objectives. Examples include:

• World Business Council for Sustainable Development
• World Economic Forum
• Fraser Basin Council
• Peace River/Williston Reservoir Advisory Committee
• Energy Council of Canada
• Canadian Electricity Association

In these and the other associations we participate in, we strive to take an active and leadership role.