It’s Off and Running! Kahnawà:ke Launches its Campaign

05/14/2009

Hydro-Québec and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke have launched the ENERGY WISE Home Diagnostic campaign.

From now until October 27, 2009, Kahnawà:ke residents will be encouraged to fill out the Home Diagnostic questionnaire. This will enable them to receive personalized recommendation reports free of charge, containing advice and tangible measures on how to save energy.

As part of this new campaign, Hydro-Québec is offering financial support to the community for undertaking a neighbourhood project. The amount provided for this project is based on the number of recommendation reports issued by Hydro-Québec to participating residents. For each recommendation report issued online, Hydro-Québec will pay the community $35, while $30 will be paid on behalf of citizens who choose to complete the paper version.

“We are very pleased to be associated with this campaign,” said Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke Grand Chief, Michael Delisle. “I urge all Kahnawa’kehró:non to respond to the questionnaires and to encourage their family, friends and neighbours to do the same.” The beneficiary for the Kahnawà:ke project is the Skawenni:io Tsi Iewennahnotáhkwa community library.

Marie Ferdais, Head of Community Relations and Special Projects for Hydro-Québec’s Direction régionale – Richelieu, said: “We are counting on the motivation of the people and of their elected officials in order to achieve the full potential of energy savings.”

Tangible advantages for everyone

The personalized recommendation report includes an estimate (in dollars and kilowatt-hours) of the potential savings that result from putting certain measures into practice, along with a cost estimate of certain types of work to be carried out, if need be, and the time required to recoup the investment. It also includes a breakdown of energy costs by type of use (e.g., heating, cooking, air conditioning, etc.).

Non-profit organizations are also invited to support the campaign by taking part in the “$5 Challenge.” For each recommendation report issued, Hydro-Québec will donate $5 to an organization that gets involved by canvassing door-to-door or by phone.

All eligible Hydro-Québec customers will be receiving their questionnaires in the mail shortly. It is more advantageous, however, to fill out the questionnaire online at wegowiththeflow.com : not only is the amount contributed for each report higher ($35), but each participant will triple their chances of winning the ENERGY WISE contest grand prize: a Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid.

The Kahnawà:ke Library staff and volunteers are in the process of training to provide service to community members who need assistance when completing the questionnaire. If you would like to find out when you can schedule an appointment or access an internet-enabled computer to complete the questionnaire, call the Library at 450-633-1016. Hydro-Québec also has a toll free help line at 1-800-ENERGIE if you wish to fill out the survey from home at anytime.