Thunder Bay Families Challenged to Turn Over A New Leaf This Fall
by Scott A. Sumner
Thunder Bay Hydro is launching a new campaign designed to further encourage community action on energy conversation. “ We are here today to launch a new campaign “Turn Over a New Leaf” to get families to conserve energy in their home. Our challenge to families is to see who can conserve the most and they are entered in a draw for our contest for an energy efficient washer and dryer,” said Tim Wilson, Vice President Customer Service & Conversation Thunder Bay Hydro. “ We are also launching this new vehicle in our fleet, the Nissan Leaf an all electric vehicle. We will be using the Leaf to promote the campaign and do site visits to customers, auditing their conservation progress. We will also use it to participate in local trade shows in the city. It is a good win for us to be able to put a 100% electric vehicle on the road and study it to see what effect it has on our distribution system and be able to answer questions from others who may decide to buy an all electric vehicle.”
What are some of the things a family can do to reduce electricity use in their home? “ There are a lot of simple things you can do to conserve electricity like turn off the lights. We also encourage customers to participate in our coupon programs whether it be buying dimmers, turning the heart down by a few degrees at night or allowing the temperature to rise up a few degree in the day not using the air conditioner, simple things like that,” said Wilson. “ In my home our TV and amp are on a power bar which we turn off at night so there is no phantom consumption while we are in bed. We are asking people to dig a little deeper and find opportunities to save energy.” According to Wilson if people can conserve 5% of their electricity use it would be great. “ We know some people may not participate because it is a small part of their budget. The average usage is about 800 kilowatts per month in a home. As electricity prices continue to rise we want to focus on the kilowatt hours.”
Businesses can also save as part of the Save on Energy program with a full suite of business programs that Thunder Bay Hydro offer. “ The business community is further along the path than the residences are, the main reason being we are just getting to the point where we will launch more residential programs. The business have the direct install lighting, direct install heat and cooling initiatives electricity retrofit programs. We are out in the small business community right now and there has been some real good uptake by them on the programs that we have now. The businesses have the opportunity to save more, “ said Tim Wilson. “ The best program we have right now is the direct install lightning which is over $1000 of free lightning that takes place. We have a contactor that will do an assessment and take a look at what lightning fixtures they want replace and there is no charge to the customer. If they want to go further and deeper with us and do additional work they can. The program has been in place for 3 to 4 years now. In the last two years it has taken off.”
The Nissan Leaf is 100% electric car, the first of it’s kind and 17 years in the making with Nissan, the worlds first mass market electric vehicle. The car costs around $ 40,000 after taxes including an $8500 government rebate. The leaf will get about 180 kms per charge in town. As you drive in town and coast or brake it regenerates. “ The car will learn from your habits and get better in terms of length of kilomteres per charge. It takes about 6 hours to charge and if you do that off peak it is only going to cost you about $ 4 dollars to charge.” said Ty Alderice, Sales Consultant at Halfway Motors Nissan.
