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BC Hydro engineer and Paralympic ski champion Lauren Woolstencroft promotes the Team Power Smart 210,000 member target along with Vancouver Olympic Committee CEO John Furlong Monday.

March 30, 2009

Team Power Smart out to recruit 210,000 members

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson rode his bike to Monday’s opening of the World Conference on Sport and the Environment. Not to be outdone, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell issued a challenge to all British Columbians.

“We need 210,000 people across British Columbia to reduce their electricity consumption by 10%,” said Campbell during a climate change discussion at the conference in Vancouver. “My challenge today, for each of you in British Columbia, is that I need you to sign up for Team Power Smart, and to commit to reducing your energy consumption by 10%.”

And with that, the worst-kept secret at BC Hydro was out of the bag. By the time the 2010 Winter Games kicks off in Vancouver, the goal is to have 210,000 British Columbians signed up to Team Power Smart and working towards cutting their energy consumption by 10% or more.

If 210,000 British Columbians joined Team Power Smart and met their 10% goal, the electricity saved would amount to 92 gigawatt hours - enough to meet the electricity needs of 8,300 homes for an entire year. And it would be more than the 80 gigawatt hours the 2010 Games is expected to use.

It’s an ambitious goal, as current Team Power Smart membership sits at just under 70,000. But it’s one that Campbell and BC Hydro feel is a necessary step toward the BC Energy Plan goal of electricity self sufficiency by 2016.

“At BC Hydro, we encourage our customers to use energy-efficient products and adopt energy-saving behaviours,” said BC Hydro President and CEO Bob Elton. “But the first and most important step is for individual customers to make the decision to adopt a conservation culture, and this campaign is a fun way to give them an incentive to do that.”

Why join Team Power Smart?

The Team Power Smart program has been set up primarily to help British Columbians start thinking about conservation, and to learn how to save energy and save money.  Among those learning is B.C. Premier Campbell, who has learned a few power-saving behaviours since becoming a Team Power Smart member in 2007.

“You can start by unplugging your chargers to your Blackberries, your cellphones and to the electric appliances that you do not use,” he said. “You can turn off your television sets at the source. How many of you do that today, pick up your little clicker, go ‘click’ and say ‘That’s good for me.’

“I used to do that, and I don’t do that anymore. Because the television, even if you think it’s off, is still using power. You’ve gotta unplug it.”

Team Power Smart members who have BC Hydro accounts track their monthly consumption online and are updated regularly with how they’re progressing toward that 10% goal and beyond. They’re learning how easy it is to save 10% or more, in part through the Green Your Home Guide and tips information on bchydro.com.

Team Power Smart members also get exclusive benefits, including special offers, chances at 2010 Winter Games ticket packages and access to a Compare Your Consumption tool set to make its debut this week. That tool will allow Team Power Smart members who have had a BC Hydro account for at least a year to answer a few questions and – based on their actual consumption – find out how their electricity use compares to those in similar-sized homes, heating type and family sizes across B.C.