ABS guest reporter Laura Phillips - Elizabeth Weir, President, Efficiency New Brunswick and Corey Diamond, President, Summerhill Group, switched gears at the 4th Annual Atlantic Business Summit to include a more micro-scaled set of energy initiatives. What separated the Negawatt from other panel discussions of the day was its "use less to gain more" mantra and emphasis on human efficiency. A term that has waffled through energy speak since the 1980's, the Negawatt is finding a place in Atlantic Canada and is producing tangible results. Organizations like the Summerhill Group and Efficiency New Brunswick are utilizing the Negawatt by implementing market strategies and community-based programs to foster the public towards greater energy initiatives.

In 2008, when Summerhill began working on Demand Side Management programs for Nova Scotia Power (and now works with Efficiency Nova Scotia), the objective was to establish cost-effective ways to manage the province’s growth in demand. The company pursued this lofty goal through energy initiatives and working with key players in the marketplace. By assisting over 180 retailers in Nova Scotia and establishing educational programs, trends research, strategic consulting, and campaigns, Summerhill hopes to transform the market and move consumers towards being more informed.

"It's about energy literacy," he says. "How are you going to raise energy literacy unless you have conversations with the public? Working with small, commercial, residential, retail– and talking to the public in this sense – this is where the big education opportunities grow from."

Sceptics have deemed this alt-energy flimsy, but numbers don't lie. From 2009-2010, $36 million was invested by Nova Scotia Power to drive energy efficiency into the marketplace, with results marking an overachievement of 23 gigawatt hours. Accomplishments in this period saved enough energy to power 18,000 homes a year. Since 2008, residents and business owners have saved over $8.3 million on electricity bills. Add this to the fact that the total cost to these Nova Scotia programs is no more than 3 cents a kilowatt hour, and the Negawatt is proving itself as an appropriate sidekick to larger technology-driven energy efforts.

"We've found is that these programs produce short-term, immediate results – these are the things that will be done right away while we bide time for the rest of the demand growth curb," says Diamond.

At Efficiency New Brunswick, Elizabeth Weir emphasizes residential projects. "It's been proven that energy efficiency in buildings is the most cost-effective approach to reducing greenhouse gases," she said. Continuing along the lines of the people-focused approach of Summerhill, Efficiency New Brunswick teams with tradespeople, businesspeople, and residents to coach and provide resources – whatever they may be. For its industrial program, ENB was awarded with an International Star of Efficiency Award for their innovative focus on organizational change and making energy a visibility in community. Because of such programs, people are able to obtain sophisticated levels of information training, participate in energy information programs, receive access information 24 hours a day, and actively engage in energy efficiency.

Spurring the market with human power is the Negawatt's bottom line. As Weir and Diamond reveal their efforts to be just the “tip of the iceberg," the sights and successes sound promising.