Welcome to British Columbia, Bullfrog Power!

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Warren Brazier

Today, British Columbia is a whole lot greener thanks to Bullfrog Power announcing that it has entered the BC electricity marketplace to sell power from wind and low-impact water power generators who meet or exceed the federal government's EcoLogo standard for renewable electricity.  Having enjoyed years of success in Ontario and Alberta, Bullfrog Power is now offering residents and businesses of British Columbia a new way to take a stand in support of low-impact renewable electricity and reduce their environmental impact. 

Bullfrog Power was founded in 2005 as a way for consumers to purchase electricity from clean and renewable sources. To date, Bullfrog has over 8,000 residential and 900 business customers in Ontario and Alberta, providing demand for five new wind generation projects in Canada.  Businesses in British Columbia that are already "Bullfrogpowered" include Walmart Canada, TD Bank Financial, BMO Financial Group, The Pembina Institute, The David Suzuki Foundation.

This sounds great, but how does this work? No special wiring is needed. Customer draws power from the BC grid as it always has and Bullfrog Power injects as much green power onto the grid as customer takes off.  The green power comes from an EcoLogo certified low-impact renewable generation facility.  For each megawatt of power generated by such a facility and is injected onto the grid, a corresponding Green Power Certificate is created to represent the positive environmental benefits associated with producing green power. Bullfrog Power then retires the associated Green Power Certificates, issued on your behalf. This entitles you to claim that you are using green electricity and that your environmental footprint has been reduced accordingly.

Deloitte conducts an annual audit to confirm, among other things, that as many Green Power Certificates have been retired on behalf of Bullfrog Power’s customers as Bullfrog Power has sold. The audit also ensures that these Green Power Certificates cannot be resold or double counted. Bullfrog will bill you monthly, in addition to your regular electricity provider, such as BC Hydro. 

Here is a link to some frequently asked questions about Bullfrog Power in British Columbia as provided on its website.

I like this company and I like the idea that the customer is in control of its electricity choices. Congratulations Bullfrog Power and welcome to British Columbia! I have no doubt that you will be welcomed by all those who support low-impact renewable power.

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Comparing Green Visions - Obama vs. Harper

Posted on February 19, 2009 by Shauna Towriss

Today is was a very historic day in Canada – US President Barack Obama, the first ever green president to be elected in the United States, arrived in Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Harper.

The main topics for the agenda? Afghanistan, the economy, trade and energy.

The Vancouver Sun reported this morning that the United States and Canada will announce an agreement today to work together on energy technology that is environmentally friendly, including capturing and storing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Both leaders have recently introduced major stimulus packages – the Economic Action Plan contained in Canada’s 2009 Budget released on January 27, 2009 and the $787 billion American Recovery and Investment Act signed on February 17, 2009 – and both packages contain certain proposals aimed at clean energy.

We here at Megawatt thought that it would be useful to break down and compare what the leaders propose to do in the area of clean and renewable energy.

First, compare and contrast the response in the clean energy industry to the two packages. In Canada, green energy proponents heavily criticized Budget 2009 as not doing nearly enough to invest in green tech and green jobs. By comparison, in the United States, the clean energy industry is celebrating the proposals contained in the US stimulus bill.

Second, Obama’s stimulus bill contains a 3-year extension of the “production tax credit” for wind energy (as well as a tax credit extension for biomass, geothermal, landfill gas and some hydropower projects).  If you recall, we commented on January 28th, that the Harper government refused to put any further funds into the ecoEnergy for Renewable Power program, effectively ending incentives and government funding for development of green and renewable energy.

While it’s true that both leaders have made provision for carbon capture and sequestration projects, it is only our country that has opted to invest in old-school nuclear energy rather that emerging clean energy projects.

Finally, Obama has earmarked $2 billion for research into batteries for electric cars, $500 million to help workers train for “green jobs” and another $11 billion for “smart grid” investments. Canada’s stimulus package contains nothing comparable.

In Canada, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said during the recent budget debate that the Canadian government “will not aggravate an already weakening economy in the name of environmental progress.”

Hopefully, Obama’s visit to Canada will result in greater collaboration between the two countries and the creation of opportunities to stimulate the economy while at the same time fostering the growth of green and renewable energy and technology.
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BC's Budget - Some red with just a dash of green

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Warren Brazier

Today, the BC Government released its 2009 Budget. Here is a copy for your reading pleasure and the link to the BC Budget website. 

The Budget, which includes a $740 billion deficit over two years, provides little "news" for the green energy sector, but overall, it provides a solid economic foundation for the Province in these turbulent times.  The Carbon Tax is staying and there are some additional Climate Action incentives for low income earners.  In my view, combined with the Throne Speech yesterday, the Provincial Budget is mostly good news for the green energy industry as it confirms the BC Government's commitment to renewable power generation in a carbon-neutral economy as a cornerstone to continued economic growth in the Province.

One notable inclusion in the Budget, which is of interest to the ocean energy community is a new tax exemption.  Effective, February 18, 2009, equipment specifically designed to produce mechanical or electrical energy from ocean currents, tides or waves is exempt from the Social Service Tax. Generators, wiring, controllers, monitors, pumps, tubing, floats, water fences, aids to navigation as defined in the federal Canada Shipping Act, 2001, and devices that convert direct current into alternating current are also exempt when sold with and as part of the specifically designed equipment.

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