B.C. industry offered $80 million to save energy
Four-year Power Smart program targets conservation
BC Hydro expects to recoup $120 million on an $80-million investment in a new Power Smart program for industrial customers.
Hydro is offering to pay its industrial customers up to 100 per cent of the cost of energy-efficient investments under $1 million, and up to 75 per cent of the cost of projects over $1 million.
Hydro has only a few dozen large industrial customers, but they collectively account for one-third of the electricity consumed each year in British Columbia -- about the same amount as each of the residential and commercial customer groups.
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The provincial government recently introduced legislation compelling Hydro to meet 66 per cent of all new growth in electricity demand by 2020 through conservation rather than building or contracting new generation facilities. That's up from the previous target of 50 per cent.
Hydro calculates that the four-year program will save enough electricity to meet annual power needs of 20,000 homes.
See: edmontonjournal.com.
And on a related note...
Saving Energy Means Getting the South on Board
Coal-fueled region uses more energy per capita and pays less for it than the U.S. overall.
The American South is not known for its energy conservation. Coal is plentiful, and electricity is cheap.
Washington, D.C., and 16 Southern states from Delaware to Texas use 44 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States but account for only 36 percent of the country’s population. The South is responsible for 41 percent of U.S. carbon emissions.
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Aggressive energy efficiency policies “could set the South on a course toward a more sustainable and prosperous energy future,” the report said. If adopted, it said, the policies would create about 520,000 new “green” jobs by 2030, and the economy would grow by $1 billion — a small but important boost in a region with the highest proportion of poor households in the U.S.
Finally, 20 billion gallons of water could be saved by 2030, or 45 percent of the projected growth in demand for water in the South, because it would not be needed for cooling systems at future new power plants, the report said. By 2030, the water savings are estimated to reach 90 billion gallons.
See: miller-mccune.com. |
