Chris Higgins
@cahiggins.bsky.social
Supporting Electric Load Growth. Building Policy. Helping homes & buildings improve, Heat Pumps, Passive House, CHBA Net Zero, & better building code.+ EV's, Civil Service, & a Safer City.
What replaces 5 parking stalls [@lanefab.com :)] & stores 3-5X the energy of water? Phase change material. A solid wax when cold, a thin molasses coloured liquid when hot, every AM when Pacific Center mall cools, it dumps the waste heat in(typically vented 2 atmosphere), & pulls it out in the night
February 14, 2026 at 12:30 AM
What replaces 5 parking stalls [@lanefab.com :)] & stores 3-5X the energy of water? Phase change material. A solid wax when cold, a thin molasses coloured liquid when hot, every AM when Pacific Center mall cools, it dumps the waste heat in(typically vented 2 atmosphere), & pulls it out in the night
Hell Yes Canada! You love to see it.
February 5, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Hell Yes Canada! You love to see it.
Know any Canadian Load Management hardware manufacturers (make product in Canada). Hardware must handle electric vehicle charging at a minimum but loads beyond that ideal. I know EVECTRIX RVE& FUTURi. Am I missing any? Taranis, the Celtic God of Electricity in a Canadian fit, for visibility and fun.
February 2, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Know any Canadian Load Management hardware manufacturers (make product in Canada). Hardware must handle electric vehicle charging at a minimum but loads beyond that ideal. I know EVECTRIX RVE& FUTURi. Am I missing any? Taranis, the Celtic God of Electricity in a Canadian fit, for visibility and fun.
Searching for the perfect EVSE (charger), so far none meet all the criteria though United Chargers comes closest, I am hopeful they will start DR w bchydro soon and be an easy choice. FLO are supposed to be launching something, but no details yet?
January 31, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Searching for the perfect EVSE (charger), so far none meet all the criteria though United Chargers comes closest, I am hopeful they will start DR w bchydro soon and be an easy choice. FLO are supposed to be launching something, but no details yet?
Last year China passed 50% of new vehicles sold being new energy (Electric or plug in electric hybrid).
China's demand for oil for transportation just dropped 4% last year. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...
China's demand for oil for transportation just dropped 4% last year. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...
January 30, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Last year China passed 50% of new vehicles sold being new energy (Electric or plug in electric hybrid).
China's demand for oil for transportation just dropped 4% last year. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...
China's demand for oil for transportation just dropped 4% last year. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...
@bchydro.bsky.social lets support Canadian manufacturers United Charger and Flo EV Charging. You should modify your EVSE incentive. Today $350 goes to a US made or Canadian EVSE. Change it so $450 goes to a Canadian made charger and $0 for a US made option. No change for other countries.
January 30, 2026 at 5:57 PM
@bchydro.bsky.social lets support Canadian manufacturers United Charger and Flo EV Charging. You should modify your EVSE incentive. Today $350 goes to a US made or Canadian EVSE. Change it so $450 goes to a Canadian made charger and $0 for a US made option. No change for other countries.
Anyone have experience w Pion Power's EVSE? It looks like they pay you 10c/kWh charged. With that, under the new optional time of use rate from BC Hydro, you could buy power 11PM-7AM at 6.72 cent/kWh, charge your EV and get 10 cent/kWh under the Clean Fuel Regulation. Making money in the process
January 28, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Anyone have experience w Pion Power's EVSE? It looks like they pay you 10c/kWh charged. With that, under the new optional time of use rate from BC Hydro, you could buy power 11PM-7AM at 6.72 cent/kWh, charge your EV and get 10 cent/kWh under the Clean Fuel Regulation. Making money in the process
The pink bins from Recycle BC are here! Soft plastic curbside pick up happen next month!
January 22, 2026 at 7:38 PM
The pink bins from Recycle BC are here! Soft plastic curbside pick up happen next month!
Great to see another successful call for power by BC Hydro. More grid scale (up to 496 MW) wind and perhaps some solar proposals have been received. With 14 proposals totaling more than 9,100 gigawatt hours per year, this is nearly double the targeted amount.
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
January 21, 2026 at 11:54 PM
Great to see another successful call for power by BC Hydro. More grid scale (up to 496 MW) wind and perhaps some solar proposals have been received. With 14 proposals totaling more than 9,100 gigawatt hours per year, this is nearly double the targeted amount.
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
Heck yes! Looks like almost 50,000 Chinese electric vehicles would be allowed in at just a 6% tariff rate. This is progress. www.bbc.com/news/article...
January 16, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Heck yes! Looks like almost 50,000 Chinese electric vehicles would be allowed in at just a 6% tariff rate. This is progress. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Australila had a heat wave and solar took most of extra daytime load. Demand hit new records, with batteries carrying much of the evening load. This is January 7th:
January 13, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Australila had a heat wave and solar took most of extra daytime load. Demand hit new records, with batteries carrying much of the evening load. This is January 7th:
The pink bin is coming February 16th. Vancouver residents will get curbside pick up for source separated soft plastics. This will be a great option to divert more locally.
January 9, 2026 at 2:48 AM
The pink bin is coming February 16th. Vancouver residents will get curbside pick up for source separated soft plastics. This will be a great option to divert more locally.
@bchydro.bsky.social your peak saver program needs to adjust its clock. This was sent out 25 minutes early.
January 8, 2026 at 12:39 AM
@bchydro.bsky.social your peak saver program needs to adjust its clock. This was sent out 25 minutes early.
Solar is nearly unstoppable. Canada should reduce the 154%-286% tariff we have on solar. Even in Texas solar is out producing coal.
December 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Solar is nearly unstoppable. Canada should reduce the 154%-286% tariff we have on solar. Even in Texas solar is out producing coal.
I am hoping a lot of it falls as snow as it is today in Whistler. Would be great to break the snowpack drought we have been in for a few years, improve hydro electric output.
December 21, 2025 at 12:10 AM
I am hoping a lot of it falls as snow as it is today in Whistler. Would be great to break the snowpack drought we have been in for a few years, improve hydro electric output.
I get the electrical bills (for research) from some Net Zero Homes I have helped over the years. Always makes me a little jealous, this is a family of 4 with an EV. They have a $8 credit in October. No gas bill! All in the rainy Pacific Northwest.
December 16, 2025 at 9:36 PM
I get the electrical bills (for research) from some Net Zero Homes I have helped over the years. Always makes me a little jealous, this is a family of 4 with an EV. They have a $8 credit in October. No gas bill! All in the rainy Pacific Northwest.
We need to see BYO Cord options in North America for EV charging. This is a charger/EVSE in Vancouver, it was public, but the cord got cut twice by a copper thief. Now it is in a locked cage, usable only by asking reception during limited M-F business hours. BYO Cord would solve this.
December 15, 2025 at 3:50 AM
We need to see BYO Cord options in North America for EV charging. This is a charger/EVSE in Vancouver, it was public, but the cord got cut twice by a copper thief. Now it is in a locked cage, usable only by asking reception during limited M-F business hours. BYO Cord would solve this.
Anyone have experience with Seattle's Solar Permit process? Should Vancouver copy it? Looks good to a layman like me. www.seattle.gov/DPD/publicat...
December 5, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Anyone have experience with Seattle's Solar Permit process? Should Vancouver copy it? Looks good to a layman like me. www.seattle.gov/DPD/publicat...
I saw this "Gas Guys" truck the other day and noticed it's a F150 Lighting (Electric). Cool to see the continued shift towards electric where options exist.
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
I saw this "Gas Guys" truck the other day and noticed it's a F150 Lighting (Electric). Cool to see the continued shift towards electric where options exist.
Our electric utility gave us 6 months of free driving because we installed an EV charger that responds to peak power events. In addition they will pay us $50 a year as long as we participate. We can even opt out of a couple of events if needed. www.bchydro.com/powersmart/r...
November 14, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Our electric utility gave us 6 months of free driving because we installed an EV charger that responds to peak power events. In addition they will pay us $50 a year as long as we participate. We can even opt out of a couple of events if needed. www.bchydro.com/powersmart/r...
Learning about the Alberta Electrical Grid. Gas fired cogeneration is inflexible and makes up 40% of the electric generation stack in Alberta.
October 21, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Learning about the Alberta Electrical Grid. Gas fired cogeneration is inflexible and makes up 40% of the electric generation stack in Alberta.
Our local IKEA offers 2h free EV charging and has a large fleet EV truck charging area. Great to see the growth in electrified fleet's
October 19, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Our local IKEA offers 2h free EV charging and has a large fleet EV truck charging area. Great to see the growth in electrified fleet's
In our market vertical ground source starts at about 300-400% of the price of air source. Mostly we see it on top of market / high end single family detached builds. COP matters in that lower COP delivers higher operating cost. Capacity is another metric to consider.
October 18, 2025 at 10:29 PM
In our market vertical ground source starts at about 300-400% of the price of air source. Mostly we see it on top of market / high end single family detached builds. COP matters in that lower COP delivers higher operating cost. Capacity is another metric to consider.
I was reading a study of cold climate heat pumps vs standard. I was surprised to see the COP (coefficiency of Performance/ efficiency) was similar at most temps & the COP of the standard equipment was a little better for most temperatures Vancouver BC Canada sees. let me know if you want the report
October 17, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I was reading a study of cold climate heat pumps vs standard. I was surprised to see the COP (coefficiency of Performance/ efficiency) was similar at most temps & the COP of the standard equipment was a little better for most temperatures Vancouver BC Canada sees. let me know if you want the report
All good things come to an end. I got a free charge here 17 times last year. Hard to get because it was free, availability will improve now. Hopefully a still cheap price.
September 19, 2025 at 6:07 AM
All good things come to an end. I got a free charge here 17 times last year. Hard to get because it was free, availability will improve now. Hopefully a still cheap price.