BC Hydro Process Improvements Program

BC Hydro, the largest electrical utility in British Columbia, launched its first conservation initiative, Power Smart, in 1989. Under the Power Smart umbrella Willis developed and managed a program for BC Hydro called Process Improvements. After an initial trial period the program was officially launched in October 1990 and ran until 1995, during which it was BC Hydro’s largest industrial conservation program. The program promoted and financially supported energy efficiency projects for large industrial customers.

Paul Willis and Parminder Sandhu led the Willis team that was responsible for the program’s implementation and day-to-day management, including project evaluation, program administration, and clerical support. BC Hydro and Willis staff identified opportunities for energy savings, some supported by utility incentives. In other cases, customers chose to implement retrofits, even without incentives, because of the short payback period. After a prospective customer submitted a project application to BC Hydro, Willis conducted a technical review to confirm the energy savings and verify the feasibility of a project. A results review two years into the program found that 216 projects had been approved, and of these, 184 projects (85%) had been completed, 11 projects (5%) were nearing completion, and 21 projects (10%) were in the process of completion.

BC Hydro declared the program a success, and an external evaluation of the program reported that “the Process Improvements program is cost effective. The program has been flexible and responsive to customer needs and successfully has motivated customers to implement energy efficiency projects that would not otherwise have been carried out.”

Industrial Custom Incentive Program Analysis

The objective of this project was to analyze technical measures to inform the decision-making process of an industrial custom incentive program for the Ontario Power Authority, whose mandate is to ensure an adequate, long-term supply of electricity for the province of Ontario. Willis developed 25 measures representative of a custom CDM program for the industrial sector in Ontario for the following end uses: compressed air, pumps, fans, process cooling, process control, process optimization, and monitoring and targeting. Willis analyzed the technical and financial data of each measure in sufficient detail to populate a total resource cost (TRC) model, including energy and demand savings, measure implementation costing, effective useful life, and seasonal effects. Willis also calibrated the data to existing program databases to validate the selected measures’ technical and financial parameters.

Industrial Prescriptive Incentive Program Analysis

The objective of this project was to recommend additional technology categories for inclusion in Ontario Power Authority’s existing industrial prescriptive incentive program. Willis identified, selected and completed technical analyses of technology categories not already included in the existing incentive program. Willis then assessed the technology categories using a total resource cost (TRC) test and other program criteria and, based on the results, identified and recommended additional technologies to be added to the existing incentive program.