Power Smart

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The new importance of Power Smart.
Or, why we want you to use less of what we sell.

A growing province. A growing demand.

In a province with so many natural resources, it's understandable that we British Columbians would give little thought to the generation of our electricity.

After all, we have had a steady supply of reliable, safe and clean power for decades. And thanks to our heritage of hydroelectric dams, we've received this power at a relatively low cost.

As the province continues to grow, however, so does the demand on our energy supply. In fact, with British Columbia's electricity consumption increasing at a rate of nearly 2% every year, our existing generating resources will be unable to meet the demand before the end of this decade.

A plan to meet the challenge.

At BC Hydro, we have already initiated a plan to secure the resources British Columbia needs for future power generation, while reducing demand through energy efficiency. Power Smart will play a critical role in meeting this challenge.

Power Smart is a series of energy efficiency initiatives, and is the cleanest and least expensive alternative to generating power. Over the next decade, we're counting on our Power Smart programs to offset more than a third of the demand for new energy.

BC Hydro will meet the remainder of our province's energy demands through several means. In addition to new generation for Vancouver Island, we will meet future demand by buying power from independent producers, and through power generated by our industrial and commercial customers.

BC Hydro is committed to ensuring that half of all new electricity is provided by clean sources. We are also actively exploring "green" energy opportunities – technologies with extremely low or even zero environmental impacts.

Power Smart helps keep rates down.

Future demand will affect costs and electricity rates. Regardless of its source, new electricity generation will be more expensive than our existing supply of large-scale hydroelectricity. In addition, our operating costs, and the ongoing costs of maintaining our infrastructure, have and will continue to increase.

Our existing low-cost supply, as well as our Power Smart programs, will help to keep our rates among the lowest in North America. Power Smart can help customers offset the impact of higher rates.

The Power Smart Solution.

Since 1989, our customers have saved over 1.1 billion dollars' worth of energy through Power Smart. And opportunities for energy savings are greater today than ever before. In the weeks and months ahead, we'll be showing British Columbians ways to reduce their electricity bills and help the environment through a variety of Power Smart programs, and new energy-efficient technologies.

We can all play a part in keeping down costs, protecting our environment, and securing the future of our power. When one of us reduces, everyone gains.