MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Cutting Back on Summer Price Spikes

Summer is heating up across the country. The cold of winter is a fading memory. At home, our furnaces are giving way to air conditioners. In the workplace, plant and operations managers are turning up the air conditioning.

Company executives, who pay attention to their energy costs, realize that a spike in energy use can happen just as easily in summer as in winter.

Electricity grids strain to meet demand on very hot days as well as on very cold ones. Extreme and unpredictable weather is driving up energy use everywhere, according to the recent BP global energy review. Executives who pay attention to avoiding peak energy use will have their efforts rewarded.

It is common for jurisdictions to offer a variety of demand management programs as a way to incent consumers to reduce their peak power consumption.

Reducing peak consumption is an important task. I hope however, many of you will not be distracted by simply focusing on demand management programs to manage electricity.

You could miss out on other, more meaningful energy initiatives.

My experience is that isolated one-off actions never satisfactorily deliver sustained energy reductions. Shaving peak electricity demand may dodge price spikes and cost penalties a few times a year. But real, long term energy reductions and cost savings require an approach that includes reducing consumption, reviewing future energy market conditions and assessing energy pricing.

Good corporate energy management

is like a good tool box.

Demand management is one good tool. A screwdriver is very useful and important. But when you need a saw or a hammer, a screwdriver won’t do. Sustainable energy management embedded in a company culture has all the tools in one place. Ensure your demand management plan is where it belongs – one of many tools in a well stocked toolbox.

Blog / Canadian Summer Gas Price Outlook

People tend not to worry about natural gas prices during the summer. This is mostly because natural gas has been consumed during the winter for heating purposes.

Over the last several years however, more consumers are using natural gas during the summer. Many jurisdictions have turned to natural gas instead of coal to fire their power generation. The industrial sector has found an increasing number of uses for natural gas in their production processes. It’s a growing possibility natural gas prices could rise over the summer season as well as in the winter.

What can be expected of the Canadian gas market in the near term and beyond?

WHAT COULD HAPPEN? FIND OUT NOW

 4 Steps to Reducing Peak Power Use