Natural Resources committee  My personal belief is that smart grids will revolutionize electricity in our society, and to some extent heat as well. They will incorporate intelligence end to end, from generation all the way through to consumption, and will provide greater efficiency, greater effectiveness of the system, cheaper supply, and a more reliable supply.

Natural Resources committee  I think it's a phenomenon that is not isolated to renewable energy but to environmental products generally. It's very difficult to ask people to pay a premium for a social good, but I believe you have to start somewhere. There is a meaningful percentage of people who are prepared to do it today.

Natural Resources committee  When you say “you”, do you mean Bullfrog Power?

Natural Resources committee  No, not for Bullfrog Power. The entire company is focused on renewable fuels.

Natural Resources committee  Sure. Bullfrog Power launched about seven years ago. In that time, somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 homes and roughly 1,500 businesses signed up.

Natural Resources committee  It was quite strong until the recession hit, and it would have diminished almost at the same time, but it's still a growing, healthy market. The United States has a longer history in this than we do, and it's shown quite impressive growth over a 15-year timeframe.

Natural Resources committee  It's difficult, because you can only tell a propensity to pay, rather than actual people putting down the money. The polling would suggest that in the neighbourhood of 15% of consumers are prepared to pay a premium for environmental products, and sometimes that manifests itself as organic food, hybrid vehicles, etc.

Natural Resources committee  Right. Bullfrog Power would sell in the order of 500,000 megawatt hours a year, approximately, which is a very small amount in the grand scheme of things in Canada. In the United States the average program—and these are programs that are run by utilities and are not particularly well marketed—has a 2% penetration rate.

Natural Resources committee  Bullfrog Power only operates in Canada. In the United States the average residential.... They sell to homes or the residential market and then the business market. Just for the sake of reference, there are about 860 green power programs in the United States, so 860 utilities selling green power to consumers, giving them a choice.

Natural Resources committee  Typically, when I'm talking about that, it's not the government entity itself that is procuring, but a government agency on behalf of ratepayers. For instance, in Ontario, the Ontario Power Authority is procuring renewable energy and then passing that cost on to the ratepayers. It's trying to increase the amount of renewable energy by something less than 10%.

Natural Resources committee  It would have decreased over the last several years. I don't have the numbers at my fingertips, but there was a green power procurement program that would have ramped up in the late 1990s, early 2000s, and that would be diminishing now.

Natural Resources committee  Hello there. My name is Tom Heintzman. I'm the director and one of the co-founders of Bullfrog Power. Bullfrog Power is Canada's renewable energy choice. We provide a renewable energy choice to Canadians coast to coast. The premise behind Bullfrog Power is relatively straightforward.