Choosing to take our responsibilities

This featured blog post was provided by our partners at Energir.

On June 26, Corporate Knights released its ranking of the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada. Based on publicly available data, and combining ESG and sustainable economy performance indicators, Énergir has earned a spot on the list for the past seven years.

This year, Énergir ranks 16th across all sectors and 2nd out of 103 organizations in its business group. This recognition reflects our organization’s efforts to move toward a more sustainable business model.

A necessary shift

As an energy company primarily involved in gas distribution in Quebec, we realized a few years ago that the future of our company would depend on the relevance of our activities in a world that is—and rightly so— moving toward decarbonization in a sustained manner.

Our business model is literally being transformed. With an eye to the long term, it now calls for us to think of energy not as a product, but as a service that must best meet various needs, including reducing GHG emissions in order to move toward a lower-carbon economy. It is based on two main objectives: reducing the volume of fossil natural gas distributed and developing sustainable energy solutions.

Consistency rewarded

One of the Corporate Knights indicators where Énergir stands out is the one measuring the link between compensation and sustainability—the “Sustainability Pay Link.” To ensure that our transformation is fully implemented and that employees take ownership of it, a portion of  executive officers and managers as well as professionals compensation is now tied to the achievement of our strategic plan targets, including those for reducing GHG emissions.

All 1,600 employees are therefore working in the same direction. Obviously, this has led to a complete transformation of certain roles. For example, our sales team, which once aimed to sell more volumes, is now an energy solutions team working to put in place decarbonization measures for our customers.

In a shift as major as the one Énergir is undergoing, consistency is definitely key to moving the needle faster and achieving our goals of a 30% reduction in GHG emissions from the buildings we serve by 2030, and carbon neutrality for the energy we distribute by 2050.

Progress regarding our targets and indicators, as well as projections, are published every year in our sustainability performance and climate resiliency reports.

Sustainability in the balance

In its ranking, Corporate Knights strongly emphasizes sustainable revenue and investments. By diversifying its activities in the renewable energy sector through our subsidiaries, particularly in the northeastern United States, Énergir is succeeding. Of our $10 billion in assets, half are in renewable energies.

In Quebec, our affiliate Énergir Development Inc. (EDI) is working with Boralex and Hydro-Québec on what could become Canada’s largest wind farm, with 1,564 MW of installed capacity. The project represents a potential investment of some $1.5 billion.

In addition to investing in the development of energy loops, EDI is focusing on the production of renewable natural gas, in partnership with Nature Energy. While EDI’s data is not included in the Corporate Knights analysis, its activities point to where Énergir is going.

Toward our focus: Value

This recognition from Corporate Knights confirms, once again, that we’re moving in the right direction. While we’re proud of how far we’ve come, we’re also aware that there’s still a long way to go. We continue to move forward with confidence and humility, determined to create value for the future of our communities.

Philippe Lanthier
Director, Sustainability, Climate Change and Public Policy, Énergir
Member, Canadian Chamber of Commerce Net-Zero Council