Living in the north means coping with dark, cold winters by heating and lighting our homes. It’s no secret that the more energy customers use to power their home, the more they will have to pay on their monthly bill, especially in the winter months. QEC isn’t able to change the cost of electricity in the territory (since it’s based on the cost to generate and distribute it), but we can help our customers to change the amount of electricity they need and use in their home.
There are a number of things customers can do to decrease their power usage. Energy saving and energy efficient activities can vary from turning off the lights when you leave an unoccupied room to installing programmable thermostats throughout your home or business. By doing so, customers can reduce their power consumption to save on energy costs and ultimately help protect the environment.
Here are a few benefits to conserving energy in Nunavut:
- Money Savings – You can reduce the cost of your heating, electricity and fuel bills. You will also be able to spend less on maintenance and replacement of energy-consuming equipment if you use it less.
- Lessened Impact on the Land and Healthier Environment – Lower energy usage results in decreased pollution. Fewer polluting gases and other fine particles are released into the air because fewer fossil fuels need to be burned to produce energy. Our land, water and air would be cleaner and healthier.
- Climate Change – The more energy we use, the more fossil fuels we burn. Fossil fuels contribute to global climate change, which is already having a direct effect on Nunavummiut. We can all do our part to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change by conserving energy.
- Better Economy – Energy conservation results in savings that can be invested elsewhere and result in employment growth. When government spends less on energy use and energy subsidies, there is more money to be spent on other programs and services.
- Reduced Maintenance on Infrastructure – With Nunavut’s growing population, greater demands are made on our existing energy infrastructure. With increased demands on the infrastructure, more maintenance is required to keep it operating. However, if everybody does their part to conserve energy, there will be less maintenance work required on power facilities.
- Reduced Need for Expensive New Energy Infrastructure – As Nunavummiut use more and more energy, we are required to expand our energy infrastructure to meet the increased demand. This is very expensive and will increase the costs of energy to Nunavummiut. The more we conserve, the longer we can use the existing infrastructure without need for expansion.