B.C. tops list of energy efficient provinces

OTTAWA—B.C. has been given the top ranking on Efficiency Canada’s provincial scorecard.

“British Columbia has been recognized for the third year in a row by experts at Efficiency Canada with the top national ranking,” said George Heyman, minister of environment and climate change strategy, in a press release.

“Our government understands that by focusing on energy efficiency, we can improve our homes and workplaces, reduce climate pollution and save money for people and businesses along the way. Increasingly we are living with the impacts of climate change and these initiatives are crucial in building a stronger, more resilient future.”

Efficiency Canada is the national voice for an energy efficient economy. It is housed at Carleton University’s Sustainable Energy Research Centre.

Heyman stated the province’s CleanBC Roadmap is accelerating and expanding energy-efficiency across sectors while creating new opportunities in the clean economy. He said new and continued financial supports for more energy-efficient windows, insulation and highly efficient electric heat pumps that run on clean, renewable power all play an important role in reducing emissions.

“Under the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, we have committed to making all new buildings zero carbon by 2030, and we’re ramping up efficiency standards for equipment,” said Heyman. “We have increased our zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) targets to make sure 90 per cent of new cars and trucks sold in B.C. are ZEV by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.”

Efficiency Canada’s report stated BC Hydro and FortisBC were among the few utilities that exceeded savings targets in 2020. Alongside the government, they provided time limited adjustments to program incentives to prevent a drop in participation rates. The group also noted that B.C. led the country in the percentage of electric vehicle registrations (8.4 per cent of total) in 2020.