Saint John Energy’s highly successful Shave the Peak initiative was designed to engage employees, customers and the broader public in awareness and action around the environmental and financial consequences of peak demand energy. Shave the Peak was developed as part of Saint John Energy’s integrated focus on environmental stewardship and fiscal sustainability.
Peak demand for electricity in New Brunswick can as much as double carbon emissions tied to electricity generation as fossil fuel generation plants are brought online to meet the demand for energy. And peak demand is not only costly for the environment: it is very expensive for the utility and its customers. Currently, as much as 30 per cent of Saint John Energy’s electricity purchase costs are tied to peak demand charges.
Shave the Peak is designed to raise awareness and action among customers to reduce their energy consumption during anticipated high peaks, particularly in the winter months. It is also a series of actions taken by the utility to curb the demand at peak, such as voltage reduction, tapping into energy storage resources and alternative energy generation.
In 2022, between the actions by thousands of our customers and Saint John Energy, nearly 420 tonnes of CO2 emissions were avoided – roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide that would be emitted by using 950 barrels of oil. In addition, Saint John Energy saved more than $1.1 million in peak energy costs in 2022 due to this initiative. In both emissions avoided and peak demand charges, the savings are significant and Saint John Energy’s aim is to achieve even greater savings in future years.
