Bos HUNTER IT IS interesting to see the likes of B.C. Hydro evangelizing about saving energy, after all those decades of urging us to pig out. What has happened is that the persons in the boardroom have fi- nally bought the argument about “megawatts.” This was a concept first pushed, as far as LE know. by energy thinker Armory Lovins back in the mid- seventies, when he first started writing and lecturing about ‘soft energy paths." The idea is the essence of sim- plicity, although it incidentally overturns 2 fundamental principle of marketing: a kilowatt of power is earned if it isn’t used. The kilowatt that is not used is avail- able to be used somewhere else. ce TT, . J Hydro convinces you to turn off a few lights ... the handful of wattage they gain becomes a marketable commodity, instead of being tied up in penny- ante operations.”’ Fe In the face of the astronomically-spiralling costs of building new power stations and dams, it is far cheaper for a utility to make use of energy that it has already produced, raher than try- ing to produce more. The place to gain that extra elec- tricity is by convincing the lazy, extravagant consumer to quit wasting energy. No matter that the consumer got this way thanks to a ‘massive brainwashing program aimed at making him this way. And while it is very motherhoodish to wave the flag of ecology while lecturing said feckiess consumer, the bottom line is that it is definitely to the finan- cial advantage of Hydro to con- vince the public to change its energy-squandering ways. The spare power that is to be squeezed out of the householder and industry alike can be gained for the relatively cheap price of a bit of advertising and a few incen- tives When J say ‘‘cheap,’’ I don’t really mean cheap, of course. On- tario Hydro, for instance, has budgeted $3 billion over the next decade to push energy conserva- tion. That’s only modest compared with the estimated cost of $63 billion over the next quarter-cen- tury to rebuild the province’s energy infrastructure, without which its bustling economy will seize up. B.C. Hydro fortunately didn't have to go the nuclear route, so it doesn’t face the awesome challenge of rebuilding an entire dying gen- eration of CANDU reactors. With the turning-on of the Darl- ington power station, Ontario has become more than 50 per cent dependent on nukes. It is one of the most ‘‘nuclearized’’ jurisdic- tions on earth. [t is, likewise, about the only place on earth were more nukes are on the drawing board. The vulnerability of nuciear power became evident this winter. Greenhouse effect notwithstan- ding, Ontario experienced a long, cold winter in the best traditions of Eastern Canada. A couple of reactors, down for repairs, didn't come back on stream as scheduled. The things. after all, are getting old. The Pickering plant, next to Toronto, is 15 years old, and has already had one near-meltdown. By Christmas, the province was having to buy power from Michigan and Ohio, where it is produced by coal-fired plants whose smokestacks produce acid rain. Ironically, Ontario law is now forcing the province’s big utility to Start cutiing back on the use of coal- and oil-fired power stations — to prevent acid rain. Hence, for Ontario, the sudden urge to conserve. In British Columbia, blessed with some of the most fabulous hydroelectrical resources in the world, the situation is substantially less desperate. But the bottom line remains the bottom line. If Hydro convinces you to turn off a few lights, stick a program- mable computerized thei mostat up on the wall, and install a shower nozzle that uses 70 per cent less energy, the handful of wattage they gain becomes a marketable commodity, instead of being tied up in penny-ante operations. It is for those reasons that Hydro is likewise cozying up to its corporate clients, offering them free energy audits, free energy- reduction planning, and a wide variety of financial incentives. The savings from the business sector could quickly become substantial. It is estimated that the average company wastes at least 10 per cent of its energy, and could therefore shave that much off its Hydro bill. For everybody’s bean- counters, this makes fiscal sense — as well as, incidentally, hoisting the company in question onto the eco-bandwagon. Yet the fact remains that all this activity is but a fitful start, and a late start at that, when it comes to energy conservation. And for some provinces, particularly those on the Prairies, it is partially a response to another aspect of the en- vironmental crisis. Low water levels across Canada have begun to dry up the supply of electricity from numerous hydro- electric generators. The hot weather we have been experiencing —- the six hottest years in the fast century all having occurred in the 1980s —- means not only that water levels are falling, but that the peak demand in the summer has risen due to the demand for air-condi- tioners and fans. One thing is sure: when Hydro urges you to switch off that light you’re not using, they’re serious. In fact, little switches being turned off ma; be the enduring image of the new decade @ DIANNA-LYNN SCAMMELL NOTARY PUBLIC 2908 Lonsdale Avenve, North Vancouver, BC. 988-6668 (24 Hrs.) 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