No matter what business you’re in, one sure way to improve your bottom line is to save on your electricity bill. One way to save energy – and reduce your operational and maintenance costs – is to join BC Hydro’s Power Smart Product Incentive Program (PIP).

This program makes saving energy both simple and cost-effective. When you sign up for this program, BC Hydro will provide you with the name of a qualified Power Smart Alliance contractor in your area who can recommend which energy savings products will work best for you.

Once your contractor installs the energy-saving products, you’ll begin to reduce your energy and maintenance bills immediately. When you fill out the online Power Smart application form, you’ll also receive a rebate from BC Hydro to help offset your installation costs.

Thus, you save in two ways, while still maintaining a comfortable and safe environment for your staff and any customers or visitors. And you’re doing something good for our planet as well.

For an estimate of how much you can save, use the Energy Savings Calculator Tool designed for your industry.

Changing your lighting and buying new energy-efficient office machines is a great first step to help your business save energy. However, for maximum energy savings, you should get everyone in your business involved in finding new ways to save.

By developing an Employee Awareness Program, you’ll help make sure your investment in energy efficiency will continue into the future.

Here are some tips to help you develop an effective program:

Establish a clear vision of what you want to achieve. For example, you might want to save five percent on your energy bill over the next year or you might want to educate your employees about energy efficiency. 

Profile your target audience and determine the best ways of communicating with them. For example, if your employees are scattered in a number of locations, you may need to use different communications (such as e-mail) than if your staff were all in one place (where morning meetings would work).

Think about what will appeal to your employees. These are your core messages. For example, should your message be that saving energy will help the environment, or that saving energy will help your bottom line and job security, or both?  

Develop and implement a communications plan to reach your employees and to convince them to become energy savers. Some ideas to consider are:

• putting up posters about energy efficiency
• adding energy efficiency as an agenda item at staff meetings
• developing a series of power-saving tips to distribute with each paycheque
• establishing an Energy Awareness Day
• inviting a guest speaker from BC Hydro, or
• running an energy-saving challenge.

Recognize and reward energy-saving behaviour. An effective awareness program never stops. Reward employees who have contributed to achieving your goals.

Tell your customers about your successes. They will appreciate what you are doing for the community and the environment.