News

Managers dove deep into BC Hydro plans and programs

There was a whole lot to take in, including detailed BC Hydro program information, for the more than 100 Alliance members who turned out for the January Alliance breakfast event in Coquitlam. More than 90% of those surveyed said they were satisfied with everything from the presentations, to the food, to the choice of venue.

But at just over 100 members in attendance, that means a whole lot of members out there weren't privy to the cascade of information served up by the two presenters: Jacqueline Spray, director of projects, customer engagement and sales; and Tamara Berger, industrial and large commercial sector manager.

For those who missed out or need a refresher, here are 10 things we all learned at the event.

1. BC Hydro is ready for electrification

"I'm sure you've all read the headlines questioning whether BC Hydro has the capacity to support electrification," said Spray. "You hear things like 'if we all switch to electric vehicles, we're going to need 10 Site C dams'. So I'm going to touch on a few things we're doing to make sure we're ready for electrification."

Spray provided details about two key initiatives aimed at helping ensure we can meet load growth in B.C.:

• A new call for power will deliver electricity to the grid as early as 2028. After consulting First Nations and independent power producers, a call for power is planned to go out in April 2024 with the target of acquiring about 3,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year of clean or renewable power.
• A new capital plan will invest $36 billion over the next 10 years. Released in January, our capital plan includes the construction of new high-voltage transmission lines and infrastructure between Prince George and Terrace, building/expansion of substations and equipment to boost residential housing and transit electrification in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, upgrading of dams and generating facilities, and new electrification and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction efforts.

2. Power Smart (efficiency) is far from dead

Despite concerns that the new focus on fuel switching will move BC Hydro away from energy efficiency programs, Spray said electrification and efficiency must go hand in hand.

"Really, the energy efficiency piece is going to allow us the capacity that we need to support electrification," she said. "If we can get people to use their electricity efficiently, then we're in a much better place."

Spray added that, since 2008, our programs have delivered 7,000 gigawatt hours of savings. "To just give you an idea of scale, when we bring Site C online, it will give us 5,100 gigawatt-hours a year."

3. With a new focus on innovation, we want to hear your ideas

"We're looking to be more innovative with our programs than we've been in the past," said Berger. "In the past, you may have brought a good idea forward, but it didn't quite fit into one of our programs, so there wasn't the appetite to support it. Now we're really trying to bring back those ideas, and to be more flexible."

Berger added that custom programs are now set up to handle a variety of technologies and different approaches. And there's new support from the top of our organization.

"There's a lot of appetite coming from our executives and senior management for us to try things out and to take on more risk," she said.

4. We're going to fund more energy managers in B.C.

Having a dedicated energy manager on site to help implement strategic energy management is a win-win. That's why we're moving to increase the number of funded energy managers at large commercial businesses in B.C.

"Energy managers are the foundation of a lot of our programs," said Berger. "One of the areas we're specifically looking at are capacity-focused demand-side management programs, load shifting, to help customers to better manage their load."

5. We have something for mid-size customers, too

Commercial customers who haven't qualified for strategic energy management programs in the past can get the help they need under the cohort program. It's available to businesses that use between 3 and 15 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year.

In this fully funded, two-year program, an energy expert leads a group of about 12 industrial or large commercial customers to implement a holistic approach to energy management.

"This offer is focused more on the operational and maintenance side and modelling your site's energy usage, but we also look at projects on the capital side, to provide a foundation for continuous energy improvement," said Berger.

6. Alliance members are vital for energy audits and feasibility studies

With our 100%-funded integrated energy audit initiative, customers rely on an energy expert to identify savings opportunities. Potential projects could range from a lighting retrofit to a larger opportunity that could require a detailed feasibility study down the road.

"We pay for energy experts, which is folks like yourself," said Berger. "You have to be an accredited Alliance member in order to be able to qualify for funding and conduct these audits for customers."

An audit may look at the entire facility or concentrate on certain systems and areas. The goal is to determine the major areas of energy use and identify the best opportunities for improved efficiency, demand reduction, and/or electrification.

"That could mean you're doing a $3,000 audit at a smaller site like an elementary school," said Berger. "Or it could mean that you're doing a $50,000 audit at a larger site. Funding will depend on the scope and what's appropriate: fair dollars for the amount of work that needs to go into it."

Customers with energy savings opportunities of more than 200,000 kWh/year, or a total demand impact of more than 100 kW, can get 100% funding for a feasibility study. Those with between 25,000 and 199,999 kWh per year, or a total demand impact of 25 to 100 kW, can qualify for 50% funding.

The feasibility study targets inefficient systems that can be upgraded to be more efficient, projects that reduce fossil fuel use, and demand-response programs that reduce energy costs.

7. Self-serve incentive proram (SIP) gets you a cents-per-kilowatt-hour incentives increase

Last summer, large commercial customers with a key account manager, or who use at least two gigawatt-hours annually at the parent company level, were given access to programs and incentive amounts formerly only available to large industrial customers. Part of that change was a move from business energy saving incentives (BESI) to the self-serve incentive program (SIP).

"These customers will see an increase in the cents per kilowatt hour that we offer for our project incentives," said Berger. "So for any sort of capital retrofit, including through the custom program, incentives on the commercial side have increased significantly over the last year. And that's to help support getting more customers to be able to do those projects with us."

8. BESI is easy, and delivers about 25% savings on energy-efficient product installs

"Our business energy savings incentives (BESI) offer is available to smaller sites on both the commercial and industrial side," said Berger. "It's prescriptive, simple, quick, and designed to be that way."

Berger said BESI is ideal for the customer looking at a smaller project around lighting, HVAC, refrigeration or mechanical technologies. And generally speaking, BESI is a fit for sites that consume less than a half a gigawatt-hour per year.

9. As technologies become standard, incentives are phased out

Many technologies that currently qualify for incentives will be phased out as codes and standards evolve. "We just won't be able to incent technologies that are now part of what customers are mandated to do," said Berger.

But as some incentives disappear, others will be added.

"We need to be able to accelerate some of that technology adoption through incentives," she said. "We can do demo projects. All that is on the table now, and we're relying on Alliance members who know what's going on in industry to be able to bring those technologies forward to us."

10. Solar power generation is about to get a boost

We're revisiting and potentially revising the net metering program, which has been set up to provide credits for feeding solar power into the grid.

"It's not my area of expertise, but we're looking to file amendments to our net metering program in June of this year," said Spray. "And it may include a revision to the current 100-kilowatt limit for putting solar on your rooftop. We're also seeing a lot of interest in solar on the commercial side and are working on programs to turn this interest into projects."