OPG President Challenges CEOs to Buy Green Power

TORONTO, ON -- Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has issued an Earth Day challenge to commercial and industrial companies, and public-sector organizations throughout Ontario to step up and commit themselves to purchase a percentage of their annual electricity consumption needs as Green Power.

OPG also announced that OPG Evergreen Green Energy will now account for 20 per cent of total annual electricity used (about 6,800 megawatt hours) at the company’s head-office and major administrative locations in Ontario. In a letter today to chief executives, OPG President and CEO Ron Osborne encouraged companies and organizations to embrace Green Power as part of their sustainable-development program.

“I ask you to consider purchasing Green Power to address a small part of your electricity needs,” the letter says. “Choosing to satisfy a percentage of your power need through Green Power will reinforce your company’s reputation as a socially conscious, environmentally responsible corporate citizen with your customers, your host communities, your employees, and other important stakeholders." “The purchase of Green Power can have important benefits for your business that are well beyond the slight premium to your overall electricity expenditure," said Osborne.

In the past year, a number of companies in Ontario have stepped up and bought Green Power from OPG. These companies include RBC Financial Services, the country’s largest company; FAG Bearings Limited, a major supplier of bearings to the North American automotive and aerospace sectors; and Husky Injection Molding Systems, which supplies equipment and services to the plastics molding industry. In the past decade, Husky, which last year was named by Corporate Knights Inc., as the most environmentally responsible company in Canada, has become a standard bearer for ways to minimize the impacts of manufacturing on the natural environment. In 2001, its net CO 2 emissions from Canadian operations were 15 per cent less than in 1990. This figure is already well below the 2010 target set by the Kyoto Accord for Canadian companies to reduce emissions by six per cent from 1990 levels. And what makes Husky’s reduction even more remarkable is that the company’s Canadian operations have more than tripled in size in the past 12 years. “At Husky, we believe it makes good business sense to integrate sound environmental, social and economic considerations into all our decisions and practices,” says Robert Schad, Husky’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “To this end, purchasing OPG Green Power is another way we can demonstrate our commitment to the environment and it is a concrete step to fostering the growth of Green Power projects in Ontario."

Pete Sprukulis, Vice-President, Marketing, at Ontario Power Generation, says that the decision to incorporate Green Power into its energy plans is an example that others may like to follow. “A growing number of companies and organizations understand that purchasing Green Power can provide a visible demonstration of environmental commitment, added Sprukulis.”

And the Green Power message is now reaching residential consumers. Last month, OPG announced a deal to supply Green Power to Oakville Hydro Energy Services Inc. (OHESI), the retail arm of Oakville Hydro Corporation. The deal enables OHESI to offer customers in the Town of Oakville and surrounding area the option to purchase Evergreen Clean Green Power. This is the first time an Ontario energy retailer has offered OPG’s Evergreen Energy Clean Green Power to residential customers. The OHESI offer is available to customers through its “Green Light Pact” Program.

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