By: Paul Stastny
Sitting in her downtown Camrose office, Denise Hawkins, owner of Camrose Energy, smiles as she thinks of the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore solar project.
This spring, the non-profit retail outlet for donated furniture, appliances, and building materials had a solar array of panels installed on its roof thanks, in part, to the people who chose to buy their electricity and natural gas through her company.
This was possible because, each year, Hawkins directs 10% of Camrose Energy’s profits to community charities.
Besides reducing the ReStore’s carbon footprint, the money the solar installation now saves helps Habitat build affordable housing in the area.
“Camrose is big on charity, but the reality is that not everybody can afford to be a big spender, so we wanted to help build that connection to the community through something that everybody does, which is pay their electricity bill,” she says.
Hawkins, who was a stay-at-home mother for the 10 years before starting Camrose Energy in 2012, works with other community partners, including The Open Door (at-risk youth) and Canadian Mental Health Association. Her customers designate the charity of their choice upon signing up.
Many Albertans have seen the light in shopping locally. Small independent businesses make for vibrant, self-reliant communities that inspire people to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
Shopping locally for electricity and natural gas also makes practical sense because local Energy Marketers like Camrose Energy—one of more than 20 Energy Marketers across the province that collectively make up the People’s Utility—provide competitive, and often, better rates than big box retailers while delivering superior service, open contracts and innovative billing options.
The icing on the cake is the community support.
When he first considered how to allocate part of Park Power’s profits in the Sherwood Park areas, Kris Kasawski, the company’s owner, reached out to local groups where he had personal connections: Boys and Girls Club of Strathcona County, Festival Place Cultural Life Foundation and altView Foundation.
Later he expanded his community partners to include the Saffron Centre, which supports healing and empowerment of those affected by sexual assault, abuse or sexual violence.
Kasawski became aware of the issue of family violence from his mother who was a teacher at A Safe Place, a local shelter for women and children fleeing abusive relationships. Support for the Saffron Centre is a way for Kasawski to engage more men in the conversation around family violence and building healthy relationships.
“It has allowed me to leverage my position in the community – as a male, a father and a business owner – to effect positive change towards an issue that is so close to my heart,” Kasawski says.
The municipality of Fort McMurray has come to know renewed strength in pulling together as a community, especially since the oil price downturn in 2014 and the devastating wildfire in 2017.
Malcom Setter, owner of Get Energy, and his wife Janelle, have benefited from the groundswell of support for the shop-local movement in Fort McMurray and have built one of the largest client bases in the People’s Utility network.
The former journeyman electrician/businessman is candid about the “shell game” of utility prices. Provided that people are informed and not bound to an old contract, “at any given time, pricing is very comparable between retailers,” he says.
What matters to his customers more than the marginal price differences is being kept properly informed, access to advanced billing features and community engagement.
“Get Energy gave thousands to the Red Cross during the wildfire recovery,” he says. He notes the satisfaction he felt upon hearing locals express how helpful the Red Cross was in the recovery.
His other community partners have included the United Way and the McMurray Gospel Assembly. Any community partner that signs with him get energy at cost. And this year, the Setters have launched a program called the 12 Weeks of Giving. A customer is drawn each week to receive an evening at a local restaurant or event.
“In the 12th week, rather than give something away,” Setter says, “we’re asking our community to nominate who they think could use 12 months of free energy, and we will fund that.”
These are just three examples of some of the great community initiatives the Energy Marketers in the People’s Utility are a part of. To learn more about this group of local companies, click here.
Paul Stastny is a local freelance writer focused on energy. He was staff writer for Oilweek for more than a decade and currently writes for corporate clients, the Globe and Mail, JWN Energy, and other publications.
This was possible because, each year, Hawkins directs 10% of Camrose Energy’s profits to community charities.
Besides reducing the ReStore’s carbon footprint, the money the solar installation now saves helps Habitat build affordable housing in the area.
“Camrose is big on charity, but the reality is that not everybody can afford to be a big spender, so we wanted to help build that connection to the community through something that everybody does, which is pay their electricity bill,” she says.
Hawkins, who was a stay-at-home mother for the 10 years before starting Camrose Energy in 2012, works with other community partners, including The Open Door (at-risk youth) and Canadian Mental Health Association. Her customers designate the charity of their choice upon signing up.
Many Albertans have seen the light in shopping locally. Small independent businesses make for vibrant, self-reliant communities that inspire people to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
Shopping locally for electricity and natural gas also makes practical sense because local Energy Marketers like Camrose Energy—one of more than 20 Energy Marketers across the province that collectively make up the People’s Utility—provide competitive, and often, better rates than big box retailers while delivering superior service, open contracts and innovative billing options.
The icing on the cake is the community support.
Later he expanded his community partners to include the Saffron Centre, which supports healing and empowerment of those affected by sexual assault, abuse or sexual violence.
Kasawski became aware of the issue of family violence from his mother who was a teacher at A Safe Place, a local shelter for women and children fleeing abusive relationships. Support for the Saffron Centre is a way for Kasawski to engage more men in the conversation around family violence and building healthy relationships.
“It has allowed me to leverage my position in the community – as a male, a father and a business owner – to effect positive change towards an issue that is so close to my heart,” Kasawski says.
The municipality of Fort McMurray has come to know renewed strength in pulling together as a community, especially since the oil price downturn in 2014 and the devastating wildfire in 2017.
The former journeyman electrician/businessman is candid about the “shell game” of utility prices. Provided that people are informed and not bound to an old contract, “at any given time, pricing is very comparable between retailers,” he says.
What matters to his customers more than the marginal price differences is being kept properly informed, access to advanced billing features and community engagement.
“Get Energy gave thousands to the Red Cross during the wildfire recovery,” he says. He notes the satisfaction he felt upon hearing locals express how helpful the Red Cross was in the recovery.
His other community partners have included the United Way and the McMurray Gospel Assembly. Any community partner that signs with him get energy at cost. And this year, the Setters have launched a program called the 12 Weeks of Giving. A customer is drawn each week to receive an evening at a local restaurant or event.
“In the 12th week, rather than give something away,” Setter says, “we’re asking our community to nominate who they think could use 12 months of free energy, and we will fund that.”
These are just three examples of some of the great community initiatives the Energy Marketers in the People’s Utility are a part of. To learn more about this group of local companies, click here.
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