| “People used to ask me about their bill or their outages, but now they ask me about consumption and efficiency.”
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Q & A
Cambridge English grad to chartered account to Grand Poobah of B.C.’s largest utility. What, at age 18, did you think you
would be, and how’d you get here?
At age 18 I thought I might end up as a university professor, or maybe a writer. When I was close to graduating (with an English
Lit degree), I applied for a series of jobs, and ended up taking the last one I applied for – with an accounting firm. By
then I was fairly sure I wanted to travel around a bit, and accountancy offered that. Twenty years or so in a CA firm, and
then I decided to move into a gold mining company. I was around 45, and figured that if I didn’t make a change then, I probably
wouldn’t. After that I came to Powerex and then BC Hydro as a CFO, and got this job in late 2003. I never did make the time
to write – so I read, instead!
BC Hydro employees often become Power Smart evangelists. How far do you go, with friends and acquaintances, in spreading the
conservation word?
It gets easier because people ask me. They used to ask me about their bill or their outages, but now they ask me about consumption
and efficiency. I like the conversations – but I never assume that I am holier than them.
What’s at the top of your priority list as chair of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility?
We have a superb management group at CBSR, so the board’s role is to help give strategic guidance, and stay out of the way
of the execution of the strategy. You see more companies committing themselves to social responsibility, and I think the first
priority now is to help the businesses that are just thinking about it, want to do the right things, and are not sure how.
Which book or magazine is currently on your bedside table, and why?
Two books. “Wild Swans: Three daughters of China” by Jung Chang – it is a story of families and also of China’s political
and social development. It’s moving, and also a history that I did not know much about. The other is: "Finding George Orwell
in Burma". I started reading it a few weeks ago, before the recent troubles in Burma. George Orwell is one of my favourite
authors, and the book caught my eye. It’s a bit of history, a bit of travel – and very relevant to what is happening there
today.
On a lighter note, which of the following Eltons are you most like? Comedian Ben Elton, musician Elton John, or NBA star Elton
Brand?
I’m tempted to say none of the above – but I was blessed with an English sense of humour, so Ben Elton!
Guilty Pleasure
Few of us are flawless conservationists. Tell us about your dark side.
I’m not sure it’s a pleasure – but flying is my main energy consumer, and is especially a greenhouse gas-producing activity.
Energy Saver
What have you done to conserve energy?
Recently, I joined a group of residential customers in a study that monitored our energy usage. My household saved 18% in
consumption and decreased our natural gas usage as well. This wasn’t by doing major change-outs of appliances – in fact, I
hardly noticed the changes. The key was being more aware of how our actions were impacting our usage.
