Power Hours Rewards Program
The Power Hours Rewards Program lets you earn financial rewards by registering for the program and reducing your electricity use during peak-demand periods.
What are power hours?
Power hours is the time of day, generally in the evening after people get home from work, when they're using the most amount of energy at home, like turning up their heat, charging their phones, plugging in their electric vehicles (EVs), turning on their TVs and doing laundry. This means overall electricity demand on the system spikes.
Optiwatt for electric vehicles
FortisBC is currently piloting Optiwatt, an EV-charging scheduler, as part of the Power Hours Rewards Program. Visit Optiwatt to sign up.
What is the Power Hours Rewards Program?
The Power Hours Rewards Program encourages our residential electricity customers to sign up and participate in power hour events where they can reduce their energy use during peak-demand periods by having their thermostat turned down or up (depending on the season), and/or by:
- having their thermostat turned down or up (depending on the season), and/or;
- not charging their EV between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.
By signing up and participating in the events, customers may earn valuable financial rewards and reduce overall demand on the electricity system.
- will receive notifications via text message or by email before a power hours event happens
- will automatically have their thermostat adjusted during the event
- can override the system anytime by manually adjusting their thermostat or via email or text request
- can participate in power hours events by registering either their eligible EV or their eligible EV charger
- can participate in power hours events that will be scheduled every day, between 4 and 9 p.m.
- should schedule their EV charging outside of these hours
How to earn incentives
- FortisBC electricity customers who meet the program eligibility requirements can register to get a sign-up incentive of $25.
- Program participants with eligible thermostats can receive seasonal (summer/winter) incentives of $25.
- Program participants with eligible EVs or eligible EV chargers can receive additional incentives by charging outside of power hours events.
Review the terms and conditions
Eligibility
To qualify for the Power Hours Rewards Program you must meet the eligibility criteria below:
Eligibility
To participate in the Power Hours Rewards Program, you must:
- be a FortisBC residential electricity customer
- Note: the Power Hours Rewards Program is currently not available to municipal electricity utility customers of Summerland, Penticton, Grand Forks and Nelson Hydro.
- live, year-round, in your principal residence (any dwelling type)
- have an ecobee®, Honeywell Home™, Google Nest1, Mysa or Sensi™ smart or Wi-Fi connected thermostat, controlling an electric space heating and/or cooling system, such as:
- electric forced-air furnace
- electric boiler
- air source heat pump (both central and mini/multi-split types qualify)
- central air conditioner
- line-voltage electric baseboard heaters
- have a functioning internet connection that can be used to connect your thermostat to FortisBC’s partner software and maintain this connection throughout your participation in the program
| Device | Sign-up incentive | Participation incentive | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smart thermostat (see eligible devices above) | $25 per customer2 | $25 per season (winter and/or summer2 |
|
Eligibility
To participate in the Power Hours Rewards Program, you must:
- be a FortisBC residential electricity customer
Note: the Power Hours Rewards Program is currently not available to municipal utility customers of Summerland, Penticton, Grand Forks and Nelson Hydro. - live, year-round, in your principal residence (any dwelling type)
have an EV model/year or EV charger, included in the eligibility list below
- have a functioning internet connection that can be used to connect your EV or EV charger to FortisBC's partner software and maintain this connection throughout your participation in the program
| Device | Sign-up incentive | Participation incentive | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
Electric vehicle (see eligible models/years below3)
Electric vehicle chargers (see eligible models below)
| $25 per electric vehicle or electric vehicle charger3 | $0.50 per event3 |
|
How to apply
- Ensure you meet the eligibility requirements, including having an eligible thermostat controlling electric heating/cooling equipment and/or an eligible EV or EV charger.
- Apply through Virtual Peaker with your FortisBC electricity account number.
- Note: you'll be required to enrol your eligible device(s) on the manufacture's website or through your device settings.
Frequently asked questions
No, you can only register your EV or your EV charger for power hours incentives.
It’s business as usual.
Your thermostat will automatically respond to the power hours event when the signal is sent out.
For participants with EVs, you can partake by scheduling your EV charging outside of power hours, which are between 4 and 9 p.m. every day.
It may vary, depending on the device you are participating with—a thermostat or EV. For thermostats, a power hours event may be up to four hours. Most events will take place either in winter (November-March) or summer (May-September). For EVs, power hours events will occur between 4 and 9 p.m. every day.
Participants with thermostats will be provided with advance notice of an upcoming event by email or text message, as specified in the application form. Power hours for EVs will take place every day, between 4 and 9 p.m.
Participants with a thermostat can opt out of an event by either manually adjusting the thermostat during the event or by responding to our email or text notification.
Participants with EVs opt out if they choose to charge their registered vehicle(s) during power hours.
FortisBC and the vendor that manages the software platform for the program, Virtual Peaker, will have access to information participants provide upon registration.
Types of data collected for the purpose of running the program may include:
- customer account information and historic energy consumption data
- information about equipment and end-uses in the residence, such as the heating/cooling system and/or EV
- information about usage patterns of connected devices during the program and during peak events
FortisBC collects, uses and discloses personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act and our Privacy Policy.
We’re here to help
If you have other questions, email [email protected] or call 1-866-436-7847.
1Google and Nest are trademarks of Google LLC.
2We are working to expand our eligible vehicles list. If you have a vehicle model that isn't listed above, please contact [email protected] to be notified when your model has been added to the program.
3Incentive will be paid at the end of each season.