FortisBC’s Climate Action Partners Program works with local governments and organizations throughout B.C. to help achieve our shared climate action goals. It funds climate action projects, or a dedicated employee, to reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency and foster more affordable energy solutions in their community.

Here's how Todd Brunner, community energy specialist with the City of Kelowna, is taking climate action for his community.

Why did you get involved with the climate action partners program?

I love the wilderness. I’ve grown up in the outdoors, camping, biking, paddling and so on. Even when I travel, you’ll likely find me on outdoor adventures, dusting off my hiking boots or looking for ski terrain. From an early age, I developed an interest in environmental initiatives to help protect the outdoors that I love.

In line with that, I got my undergraduate degree in environmental studies from the University of Calgary. After that, I worked for several great organizations doing field biology and site remediation. While these companies all did important work, I started noticing through my experience that many of the rules and regulations we were following didn’t seem to do a great job protecting the natural resources that I valued so much. There were a lot of reasons for that, but I was confident that there had to be better ways to do things. So that’s when I decided I wanted to be one of the people that crafted those rules and regulations, always seeking continuous improvement in how our world works. Naturally, that led to an interest in working in a government setting.

Todd loves outdoor adventures, including mountain biking near Revelstoke, B.C.

Climate change is a multi-faceted challenge and climate change policy combines my passions and skills into meaningful actions that are important to me. That’s when I went back to school to pursue a Masters in Resource Management with a specialty in climate change policy. I had a stint after that working for the Alberta government on climate policies for industrial sectors, before life brought me here to Kelowna. This opportunity with the City of Kelowna, as part of the climate action partners network, seemed like a fascinating opportunity to lead energy efficiency and policy initiatives that push the envelope of environmental progress. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the interior of B.C. offers great outdoors opportunities and lifestyle as well.

Climate change is a multi-faceted challenge and climate change policy combines my passions and skills into meaningful actions that are important to me.

Todd Brunner, community energy specialist, City of Kelowna

Can you share more about your work as a community energy specialist?

At a very high level, my role embraces the collective knowledge of some smart people across the province, and brings the best policy ideas to Kelowna to help reduce our climate impacts. I started this role in August 2021, but through the climate action partners network, we’re bringing a lot more than just my experience to this work. The peer networks I’m involved in are crucial.

The initiatives I work on are largely centered on reducing carbon pollution, lowering the carbon footprint of Kelowna’s transportation sector and making new and existing buildings more energy efficient. There is currently strong support for climate action initiatives across all levels of government, which is great. It means there’s a lot of momentum and upward trajectory in the policy world, and a lot of government funding and resources to tap into.

The work I do within that is really diverse. In Kelowna, our climate plan shows around 50 per cent of our emissions are from transportation, and around 90 per cent of those emissions are light duty transportation. Electric vehicles are a great way to reduce our climate impact. I recently led an assessment to help the city narrow down which public sites would be best to place new electric vehicle chargers. While many are charging electric vehicles at home or work, there is a need for public charging and it’s critical to choose ideal locations. We analyzed residential and traffic density patterns, land use patterns, community amenities and so on. Places where people park for multiple hours to go about their daily routines, be it a residential or commercial building, tend to be great spots for charging.

In Kelowna, around 50 per cent of our emissions are from transportation, and around 90 per cent of those emissions are light duty transportation. Electric vehicles are a great way to reduce our climate impact.

Todd Brunner, community energy specialist, City of Kelowna

Speaking of buildings, Kelowna was an early adopter of Energy Step Code Step 3, to make all new buildings at least 20 per cent more efficient. Energy efficiency in buildings might not grab quite the same attention as other climate action initiatives, but it’s absolutely crucial if we want to effectively reduce emissions quickly and meaningfully. In Kelowna, we run numerous rebate programs and outreach initiatives that help our community to take action to use energy more efficiently in buildings.

What are the benefits of this work to the City of Kelowna?

With that vast resource network of the Climate Action Partners Program, the city and the residents are benefitting from not just my own work, but also the work of a diverse group of experts across the province. These are people who have walked my path and are able to teach me how to overcome hurdles I don’t know exist yet. This city has one climate action partner, but in this role, I am harnessing the knowledge of almost 20 other partners, their organizations and the FortisBC team. I’m really grateful for that network and I’m so excited about the continued climate action progress in Kelowna and across B.C. We’re seeing new practices and technologies emerge in the buildings and transportation realms, and many of these show a lot of promise as solutions that can deliver cost-effective energy efficiency and carbon reductions. I always enjoy talking with people in our community about these possibilities!

Todd hiking in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah. Southern Utah is one of Todd’s favourite destinations for hiking and outdoor adventure.

Anything else you’d like to share?

My favourite part of this job, by far, is engaging with community members who are eager to get involved in our city’s climate action efforts. Everyone has a part to play, individually and within their means, to reduce emissions. By understanding their needs and what motivates them, learning from them, I can hopefully cement that desire to get involved. I encourage all Kelowna residents to get involved within the community, through public meetings, advocacy groups or other means, however you have the bandwidth to do so.

I’m a big believer in steady progress and balanced policy approaches that push the envelope sustainably. Figuring out just how far you can push is always the challenging part. That involves a lot of hard work on research, engagement and analysis.

I’m a big believer in steady progress and balanced policy approaches that push the envelope sustainably. Figuring out just how far you can push is always the challenging part.

Todd Brunner, community energy specialist, City of Kelowna

Climate change is a complex problem with complex solutions. But that’s what gets me excited and motivated about it. There’s no silver bullet, and inevitably we can expect to learn some lessons along the way. That said, I firmly believe we have to work together, with a continued commitment to pushing forward through challenges and finding solutions that work.

Connect with us to learn more about being a climate action partner

Our climate action partners are part of a community of like-minded organizations that are working to advance a lower–carbon future, through the roles that communities and utilities play as identified in the Province’s CleanBC Roadmap. We encourage any local governments and organizations that share these values to connect with our climate action partners team to discuss how we can tackle climate action together.

Here's what some other FortisBC climate action partners are doing:

	FortisBC’s climate action partners: meet Kesh Bandara “I’ve spent seven years in energy efficiency and the sustainable built environment. Humankind is at a crucial moment and what we do today will shape the habitability of the planet for future generations. We need to park our egos at the door, do away with personal agendas and work together, realistically and pragmatically. If we do that, I’m highly optimistic in our capability.”
	FortisBC’s climate action partners: meet Penny Page-Brittin “But the thing I want to say most is how much I appreciate the climate action partner network. Nothing happens without collaboration. Each municipality is unique, but they each have similar climate action goals. Corporate buildings can have different needs but they are common in their need to be more energy efficient. All the work we’ve done over the past year, I’m constantly emailing the other climate action partners to ask questions, learn from their work and share ideas.”
	FortisBC’s climate action partners: meet Jeremy Dresner “It’s a real pleasure doing this work. It’s an opportunity for me to give back to the community I now call home. But I’m not doing it alone—I really appreciate the support I have from the community and other colleagues. Collaboration is crucial across industry and the province. Climate action will require a team effort, honest pragmatic discussion, sharing knowledge and maximizing resources.”