BC Hydro Business Energy-Savings Incentives Program & Energy Storage System (ESS) Incentives

Invest in your business, invest in savings. The best place to start when trying to save energy is to evaluate where your energy use originates and identify which areas use the most. By identifying the areas with the highest energy consumption, you can implement energy-efficient improvements for maximum savings. BC Hydro offers the Business Energy-Saving Incentives (BESI) program; focusing on the highest energy users in your business and incentivize reduced usage.

These business incentives that are available are:

-        Lighting

-        Add-on upgrades for refrigeration

-        Add-on upgrades for mechanical technologies such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)

Business customers can upgrade any of this equipment if they are eligible, energy-efficient models and BC Hydro will provide funding to cover a portion of the upfront cost. 

The BESI program offers numerous advantages, such as the potential to save you an average of $2,400 annually on your bill, depending on your energy consumption and the upgrades you undertake. This not only shortens the payback period of the upfront investment but makes the decision to upgrade easy.

To be eligible, your commercial and industrial sites must use less than 500 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year. Some customers with higher usage may also be eligible. Invest in energy savings and invest in your business today. To apply, visit Business Energy-Savings Incentives program.

Reliable and resilient storage. Energy Storage Systems (ESS) provide reliability and resiliency for businesses and the grid alike while helping to reduce GHG emissions as an alternative to diesel backup generation. Storing energy can help manage peak demand charges, reduce peak loads on the grid and provide electricity during outages.

BC Hydro is offering an incentive of 80% of the project cost to business customers. This incentive supports the acquisition, installation, and operation of ESS. The incentive provided is based on the amount of battery capacity the customer nominates to be available for demand flexibility or demand response events.

Once installed, BC Hydro will have the ability to dispatch the ESS automatically in response to changing conditions on the grid. These dispatch signals trigger the battery to discharge, powering the facility it's attached to and reducing demand on the grid. The battery will then recharge later in the day or at night.

Energy storage is an essential part in saving energy, and its important that it maintains to be reliable and resilient to be used the way it should be. For further information on this offer visit Energy Storage Incentives.