Stories & Features

Say hello to Tamara Berger

Tamara has been a key member of our industrial team for over a decade. She's led industrial sector marketing since 2019 and officially moved into the manager role in 2022.

"I started at BC Hydro in 2008 on the commercial marketing team. In 2012, I switched to industrial marketing as a program manager, overseeing the strategic energy management (SEM) programs," says Tamara. "Then in 2019, I moved into the team lead role, focusing on project incentives, studies, and overall business planning. And now I also oversee all of the program managers and specialists within the industrial program team."

You may well have met Tamara already: "As a program manager, I was engaged with our larger industrial customers in mining, forestry and manufacturing. I also started the strategic energy management cohort program with our mid-size industrial customers."

With our electrification plan supporting increased electrification across the province, Tamara explains what this means for our industrial programs.

Strategic energy management (SEM)

"What began as a smaller initiative is now the foundation of all our programs," says Tamara. "Our customers see huge benefits when they think about managing their energy strategically, putting a plan in place and implementing it with support from our other offerings. Originally, SEM was just focused on energy conservation, but we've widened this to look at the bigger picture, including low-carbon electrification and helping customers to explore capacity-focused demand-side management. Reducing your peak demand can make a huge difference to both your bill and our infrastructure requirements."

Energy studies and audits

There are usually ways to improve the efficiency of any facility. So we offer a couple of different ways to identify them.

1. Plant-wide audits are conducted by a qualified Alliance member who will look at your entire facility to identify key areas of energy usage and the best efficiency opportunities.
2. Our energy efficiency feasibility studies provide an in-depth analysis of energy solutions and the cost/benefit analysis you need to make strategic decisions for increasing energy efficiency at your facility if you have an energy savings opportunity of at least 300MWh/year. You might also use one if you're designing a new industrial facility or planning a major expansion. "A qualified Alliance member will come to your facility to conduct the study and do the calculations so that you're able to realistically estimate your savings and the implementation costs of the project," Tamara explains. "These figures can help you build a solid business case to take to your organization and demonstrate what the payback and long-term savings could be with an incentive from BC Hydro."

Incentives

If you read Current regularly, you'll be well aware of our industrial incentives for energy-efficient upgrades, including our popular self-serve incentive program for items such as lighting and air compressors.

"As the demand for electricity grows, we need to help everyone be more efficient with how much they use," says Tamara. "So over the next couple of years, we're aiming for increased energy savings across the board and we're increasing our focus on incentives to support that. They'll become more and more important as customers move from fossil fuels to low-carbon electricity and we look to grow the provincial load as efficiently as possible."

Low carbon electricity (LCE)

Not all electricity is created equally. In fact, over 30% of electricity in Canada is produced using either nuclear power or fossil fuels.

"With the increase in electrification, low-carbon electricity – produced by hydro, wind, solar, biomass and geothermal sources – is clearly much more desirable," explains Tamara. In short, if you're a BC Hydro customer, your electricity is low carbon.

A holistic approach

"As we look to the future, we see all of these programs – and the many others that we offer – providing a very holistic approach to energy management," says Tamara. "We're working hard to help all our customers understand the many ways we can help them to maximize their savings and reduce their usage – and their carbon footprint."

Want to know more?

To find out more about strategic energy management and the industrial programs and incentives that might benefit your business, contact your Key Account Manager or Regional Energy Manager, or call 604 522 4713 in the Lower Mainland or 1 866 522 4713 elsewhere in B.C.