FEI-FEVI 2010 EEC Report filed March 31, 2011 - FortisBC

FORTISBC ENERGY INC. AND FORTISBC ENERGY (VANCOUVER ISLAND) INC.
2010 ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION ANNUAL REPORT
Additionally, with the absence of program operations personnel or an outsourcing solution, the
commercial EEC team spends a considerable amount of time on program administration as
opposed to program design and roll out, thereby slowing the introduction of new programs and
hindering the ability to invest in commercial EEC program development activity. Receiving and
processing applications, contacting customers for missing documentation, responding to
enquiries, and issuing incentive payments are all handled by the program design staff, who
should be otherwise focused on developing and promoting new programs. The Efficient Boiler
program process, in particular, is complex and requires much support from EEC staff in order to
see participants successfully through the program and to ensure rebates are ultimately issued.
A revision to the program is currently under development and designed to simplify the process
to free up many hours that can be redirected towards more valuable work. Administrative work
is central to ensuring predictability, consistency, and continuity of the commercial area
programs, however, and cannot be neglected. Commercial customers must view the programs
as being reliable if they are to be encouraged make decisions that will have an impact in the
medium term based on the availability of an incentive from the Companies.
Despite these challenges, the Companies consider this first full year of operation under the EEC
project to have been a foundation year for the Commercial Energy Efficiency programs.
Valuable experience has been developed while relationships with partners in utilities,
government, and industry have been fostered. The Companies now intend to build upon this
foundation to deliver even greater value in 2011.
4.3 2011 Commercial Program Area Outlook
The Companies intend to broaden their commitment to Commercial Energy Efficiency programs
in 2011. Table 4-2 provides an overview of some of the expected program spending, and a
glimpse of the new program offerings the Companies’ have under development. In addition to
retaining many of the existing commercial programs the Companies intend to bring several new
programs to market. Most notably, the Commercial Custom Design Program will begin
providing incentives in tandem with BC Hydro’s incentive programs. The outlook for these
programs is outlined below.
SECTION 4: COMMERCIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM AREA Page 48