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Okanagan energy savers recognized

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Okanagan energy savers recognized
Okanagan energy savers recognized – May 31, 2016

KELOWNA – Whether it’s saving money or reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we all know the benefits of cutting down on our energy use.

Tuesday FortisBC gave some local businesses and organizations credit for taking that message to heart.

A casual observer in BNA Brewing Company’s Kelowna kitchen probably wouldn’t notice the steps they’ve taken to condense their energy use.

Efficiency rated appliances and a system of timers and motion sensors all round out a recipe to save energy.

“I like to call it dummy proof in a sense because basically it always turns off lights. Nothing will ever be left on,” says BNA Brewing Company owner Kyle Nixon.

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BNA Brewing Company is one of 10 businesses and organizations that were recognized for their efforts to conserve as part of FortisBC’s ‘Efficiency in Action’ awards.

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The electricity and natural gas provider is recognizing groups that have gone above and beyond to save energy.

“These customers have really taken the time to plan out, to assess their needs [and] to manage their energy efficiency in a very mindful way,” says FortisBC spokesperson Nicole Bogdanovic. “They really do have long term strategies in place.”

The City of Penticton got a nod for replacing street lamps and most arena lighting with LED bulbs. The south Okanagan city also upgraded equipment at its waste water treatment plant.

“These energy efficiencies [are] estimated to be 1.6-million kilowatt hours over the course of a year which equates to about 146 single family homes and in the language of money it is probably about $200,000 that the city is going to be saving,” says Penticton’s mayor Andrew Jakubeit.

The upgrades are expected to eventually pay for themselves.

The award winners also see a broader benefit to making changes.

“The reason we save energy of course is very [simple], we are focused on what our impact is on the environment. We should all be worried about climate change and global warming so it needs to be really factored into anything that we do these days,” says Doug Gallagher with Andrew Peller Limited.
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Fortis says 340 homes could be powered for a year with the electricity saved by the ten award winners.

While, 150 homes could be heated for a year with the natural gas saved.

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