Energy Conservation in Toronto…

On average, about 20% of your home electricity costs are attributed to lighting.

This past weekend I was working an event called “Spring Turn On” at a Home Depot location in Toronto. It is a two weekend event (May 23rd/24th and May 30th/31st) at Home Depot and Canadian Tire locations across the city. Toronto Hydro, the largest electricity utility in Canada, is the main organizer with aims to inform customers about the latest energy conservation programs available in the city. Summerhill Group, my employer is a company dedicated to transforming markets to achieve sustainability. They are running the event in conjunction with Toronto Hydro, Home Depot and Canadian Tire.

For both Saturday and Sunday, store customers found themselves wandering around curious to find the latest deals and bargains on new cool appliances. Once customers noticed our presence they were filled with excitement and irrational exuberance desperate to grab their free compact fluorescent light bulb. We provided 350 free CFLs to the first 350 customers which served as a great avenue to educate inform and discuss the numerous benefits that CFLs serve. There is more to it however, the customers were required to fill in a quick survey on energy conservation in Toronto so that Toronto Hydro can identify what part of the city their from, their knowledge on energy efficient strategies and how often they participate in these eco events. We are also providing $4 rebate coupons for all Energy Star Certified light bulbs, and $10 coupons for power bars with timers.

One of my responsibilities was to inform and educate customers on Toronto Hydro’s peak saver program. In short, only residents who have centralized air conditioners and/or water heaters are eligible. Why? In the summer months when residents profligately run their air conditioners, it contributes to peak demand because everyone in the city is doing it. So, Toronto Hydro figured that by installing peak savers on air conditioners for absolutely free and providing a $75 gift card in the process, residents would feel more inclined to have it.

How does it work? During peak periods, Toronto Hydro will send a signal to the AC or water heater to interrupt power to the appliance for a short time. Air conditioners are cycled off for 15 minutes out of every 30 minutes. This way, a lot of pressure is taking off of the hydro system thereby reducing demand and keeping the cost of power lower in the future. Additionally, this reduces the need to import electricity.

We are also informing people about “time of use” pricing. Both smart meters and time of use pricing help minimize peak demand. Let’s say for example you want to use your clothes dryer and it is 6 pm in the evening. Chances are a lot of people are using their dryers at this time and will have to pay the on-peak (highest price) of 8.8 cents per kWh. If you wanted to dry your clothes at 11:30 pm you would be paying off-peak (lowest price) of 4 cents per kWh. In other words, incentives do exist to encourage residents to think about when they wash and dry their clothes, use their AC and dishwasher.

Key message: “All electrical devices have two prices tags, the initial purchase price and the cost of operating it.”