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Green Energy... Get Your Green Energy Here!by Michael Yam
May 27 2007
| | | How to take your electricity use off the grid simply and safely - even if you're not about to install solar panels in your roof. In Toronto, any serious discussion about environmentalism has to include talking about how Ontario has relied, for years, on coal and nuclear sources for its electricity. Experts say this trend can’t continue, because of the harm that burning coal and nuclear waste does to our environment and our health. Enter Bullfrog Power. The bullfrog is not the new symbol for a global alternative energy campaign, replacing the butterfly of the 1960s’ green movement. Rather, Bullfrog Power is the name of Ontario’s first 100% green electricity retailer. If you’re a Bullfrog customer – who has switched from your regular provider, like HydroOne – you continue to draw power from the Ontario electricity grid in the same way that you always have. However, Bullfrog ensures that the amount of electricity you buy is injected onto Ontario’s main electricity grid from certified green generation sources. In this case the energy comes from a mix of wind (80%) and low-impact hydro (20%). This clean electricity costs about 9.1 cents/kWh, a hike from the current coal/nuclear-sourced rate of 5.3 cents/kWh. The difference amounts to about $1/day, a price many people are willing to pay. Bullfrog, which launched in the fall of 2005, now serves over 3,000 homes and 250 businesses in Ontario, including the likes of Margaret Atwood and Gord Downie, and companies including Wal-Mart and RBC. The expansion has been rapid across Ontario with no signs of slowing down. Despite Bullfrog’s success, it is still unknown to the average Ontarian. Since conventional mass marketing is beyond its capacity, Bullfrog relies on a grassroots method of selling itself. The company works first and foremost through its customers, who act as green ambassadors. Robin Green, a customer in Toronto’s east end, explains, “I recently put a Bullfrog sign on my front lawn and every couple of days someone will ask me about it.” Equipped with simple promotional swag and powered by word-of-mouth, the company has gained incredible momentum. “[The price] sounds like a big jump but it’s not. For us the price has not been so much an obstacle – but it has given us more incentive to save energy,” says Green. Tom Heintzman, the president of Bullfrog Power, believes the price gap will soon diminish. He points out, “The price of conventional energy will rise as current infrastructure ages. You also have to keep in mind that it’s artificially subsidized.” Bullfrog is not waiting for the market to change, but instead the company is trying to drive the energy market itself. “In order for this [green] economic model to exist, there has to be a driver like Bullfrog. Ultimately, we’re helping to put up new sources of generation that otherwise wouldn’t be put up,” he explains. Heintzman and his crew have certainly delivered: the company has erected two wind turbines on the Bruce Peninsula and two more on Manitoulin Island during the past year alone. Not bad for a company that hasn’t even been around for two years. With more customers signing up daily and its strategy for creating an alternative energy market, Bullfrog will be seeing plenty of green in the future. | | |
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