Takla Nation is located in North Central British Columbia, along the shores of Takla Lake. The Nation, situated at the end of the BC Hydro grid line, is prone to regular blackouts due to energy demands that often exceed generation capacity. With plans to grow the community in the coming decades, Takla is committed to aligning electricity supply with the community’s growing electricity needs.
To capture the Nation’s vision for its energy future, as well as its current energy use and expenditure, and to outline actionable steps to achieve its goals, Takla Nation engaged Community Power to develop a Community Energy Action Plan (CEAP) in 2020. The Nation emphasized the need to reduce energy expenditures in the community, improve the safety of local homes, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, identify renewable opportunities, and establish priorities for future energy and housing initiatives. Community Power captured these objectives and has since undertaken a series of projects to help the Nation achieve its vision.
To further support the Nation’s sustainable growth, Community Power is conducting both a load forecast and a heating electrification load study in the community. The purpose of the load forecast is to assess Takla Nation’s future electricity needs. The project includes plotting and identifying electrical consumption trends, mapping out the electrical load associated with future development plans, assigning likelihoods for project completion, and developing models that reflect a range of future scenarios.
A load forecast will further enable effective collaboration between the Nation and BC Hydro, as they work to upgrade their electrical infrastructure and enable community expansion. Meanwhile. the heating electrification load study aims to provide the Nation with additional data and analysis that can be used to design an efficient electrification strategy targeting the community’s heating systems. This is especially important given the Nation’s reliance on wood. If the current resource landscape shifts, electric heating could become a necessity.
A Multi-Year Housing Upgrade Plan (MYHUP) developed by Community Power helped the Nation secure $1.6M in funding for housing renovations. In partnership with the Nation, Wildland Develop Corp (Takla’s local construction company), and the established Trade Partners Community Power is currently leading and supporting the renovation project in the following areas:
Since January 2022, Community Power has also been working to support the construction of 7 duplex homes in the community. These homes will meet passive house standards, are built with ultra-durable materials, are low maintenance, and fully accessible. The project is scheduled for completion spring 2023.