Tag Archives: Solar energy

Housing

Mid August 2025 Housing Update from Rainbow Ridge

Mark Lombard from the Cortes Housing Society recently gave an update on progress at the Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing Project.

“At this point we’re well along the way of building a community building with an office for the housing society. It’ll have: 

  • a utility space that has controls for the water systems and filtration to send water to all the homes. 
  • the controls for the battery and solar system that will provide backup power for the water and sewer for the buildings.
  • a laundry room that’ll serve the women’s shelter and other people on the south end who need it. 
  • a guest bedroom that people who live in the seniors village or at Rainbow Ridge will be able to rent for a modest price per night. 
  • a lounge area with a kitchenette that people can have a little birthday dinner or a card game, or if the Housing Society board wants to meet, there’ll be a big table that can be used for that.”

“We’re putting the siding on right now, and working on the interior finishing.”

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Energy

The B.C. agency overseeing oil and gas is about to get more powerful. Here’s why you should care

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporters

One of British Columbia’s government agencies is poised to get a lot more power.

Premier David Eby’s NDP government has just introduced legislation to give new responsibilities to the BC Energy Regulator (BCER), which oversees the province’s growing oil and gas sector and other energy projects.

The changes will put the regulator — largely funded by the oil and gas industry — in charge of fast-tracking renewable energy projects like wind and solar, along with the $3-billion North Coast transmission line that will power liquefied natural gas (LNG), mining and other industrial projects.

Continue reading The B.C. agency overseeing oil and gas is about to get more powerful. Here’s why you should care →
Housing

Coming Feb 17&18: Free Ecotrust Canada Workshops On Energy Retrofits

The energy team of Ecotrust Canada will be visiting Quadra and Cortes Islands next week. They are part of a registered charity which works primarily in rural and remote areas and helps guide people through the process of doing energy retrofits, installing heat pumps, new windows and solar panels.  They will be giving free workshops at 2:00 and 6:30 in the Quadra Community Centre on Monday, February 17 and at the same times in Mansons Hall on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.   

 “The upcoming workshops are to introduce residents to our Home Energy Savings Program. We’re offering a one on one support service, often called a concierge service. So once you register for our program, you’ll get an email from me asking very  basic information about your home, like the age of your home, the heating system you have etc. After that, you will receive a phone call from me and we’ll go through more questions about your home. You explain what your desires are, what challenges you’re experiencing around your energy bill, and then I can help guide you toward the right rebates and the right renovations, or retrofits, so that you can achieve that goal,” explained Michael Anthony Lutfy, the program manager for our area. 

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Cost of Climate Change

How are we doing with Climate Change? The ABC’s of Global Warming

2 Comments

By Ingo Overmann

It is my sincere  belief that thereason we are NOT making the urgently needed progress on climatechange is because far too many people do not understand the ABC’s.This applies to residents of remote areas like Smithers and Cortes Island just as much as someone living in the densely packed suburbs of GreaterVancouver.  If you want to test that statement for yourself, please ask the next 10 ordinary people you meet ‘How many POUNDS of CO2are created by the use of 1 litre of gasoline?’ Prepare to be amazed.We may be prey to the greenwashing and misleading statements of climate change deniers, but the lack of knowledge lies with us, and is ours to change. 

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Energy

The Expanding Local Market For Solar Power

A Cortes Island based solar company has been installing more systems that tie into the grid. 

There is a lot of potential for solar energy production in British Columbia. It has been largely untouched because of the province’s reliance on hydro-power and natural gas. As of October 2023, BC Hydro had 8,500 net metering customers with a combined solar capacity of 71 MW. This was only a fraction of the 4,609.5 MW of solar capacity tied to Canada’s grid that year. 

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