As electricity demand continues to rise, driven by population growth, electrification, and extreme weather events, organizations across British Columbia are looking for practical ways to manage their electricity use more effectively.

BC Hydro’s Demand Response program offers a powerful solution by temporarily reducing or shifting energy consumption during peak periods. By participating, organizations can not only support the resiliency and efficiency of the grid but also earn financial incentives while improving their energy savings.

What is demand response and why it matters?

Demand response programs help organizations:

  • Lower operational costs through financial rewards.
  • Reduce strain on the grid during peak heating or cooling periods.
  • Contribute to sustainability and climate action goals.
Practical tools to help sectors get started

To help sectors better understand how to take part in BC Hydro’s Demand Response Behavioural program, Prism collaborated with BC Hydro to develop a series of succinct program participation overviews for several key sectors:

  • School buildings
  • Post-secondary education facilities
  • Commercial office buildings
  • Government buildings
  • Hospitality buildings
  • Municipal buildings
  • Public hospitals
  • Retail buildings

Designed for busy facility managers, operations teams, and decision-makers, these resources explain what demand response means, why it matters, and how different building types typically respond.

To illustrate demand response in action, each overview also includes a sector-specific case study that describes practical, implemented strategies and the results they achieved in real settings.

How Prism adds value: Turning opportunity into actionable strategies

Understanding how to participate effectively in demand response can be complex. Every building operates differently, and identifying what actions are possible, and what benefits they will bring, requires a technical and strategic approach.

Prism Engineering helps organizations:

  • Model their hourly electrical load profile using historic utility data.
  • Identify practical demand response strategies tailored to their facilities.
  • Quantify potential energy savings, financial incentives, and operational impacts.
  • Align demand response program participation with sustainability and electrification goals.

With over 35 years of experience in energy management and a deep familiarity with BC Hydro’s programs and requirements, we help clients make informed decisions that align with their operational needs and sustainability goals.

Get started

The program participation overview documents are available on BC Hydro’s Demand Response Behavioural webpage.

If your organization is interested in exploring how demand response could work for your facilities, our team is ready to help.

Contact Us

Prism is here to support your organization’s success.

Read more about our services
Decarbonization Planning
Energy and Carbon Audits
Low Carbon Electrification

Read more about BC Hydro’s demand response program
Demand response for business