The City of Castlegar and and the Castlegar Division of Interfor were two of the 10 winners of this year’s FortisBC Efficiency in Action Awards.
The annual Efficiency in Action Awards recognize customers who incorporated higher than standard energy efficiency into their projects and achieved significant energy savings.
The City of Castlegar received its award in the public sector, provincial category.
The recognition came for the completion of two major projects — converting streetlights to energy-efficient LEDs and completing upgrades at the South Sewage Treatment Plant.
“Converting streetlights to LEDs now saves the city more than 300,000 kWh annually, which is equal to the annual energy use of close to 30 homes,” Nicole Bogdanovic, Communications Advisor with FortisBC Inc. stated.
“The innovative upgrades at the South Sewage Treatment Plant, including adding variable speed drives to the aeration system and anoxic zone control have resulted in reduced energy at their plant by an impressive 57 per cent electricity consumption, as well as maintenance costs.”
FortisBC also noted that as a major employer and as public infrastructure, these facilities are important to the community.
“By improving their operations, they are also helping B.C. meet its climate action goals and saving everyone money by lessening the need for new utility infrastructure.”
Interfor’s Castlegar Division received their award in the industrial category.
They were recognized for modernizing the Castlegar facility with an energy-efficient air compressor system, variable speed drives and lighting.
Bogdanovic explained that industrial settings are very energy-intensive.
“The hissing sound from a leaking air compressor system is the sound of energy going to waste. And in the past, equipment was fully on or fully off,” she said.
“By fixing the leaks and adding drives that allow them to set equipment to what’s needed to do the task, together with efficient lighting, they are reducing their energy use by 2.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year — that’s equivalent to the annual electricity use of more than 200 homes.”