The BC Sustainable Energy Association is pleased to share that Energy Connections 2026, held earlier this week in Vancouver, was a tremendous success. With 125 attendees, the event reached full capacity and brought together a highly engaged cross section of industry leaders, policymakers, innovators, and community voices. We were honoured to welcome Adrian Dix as our keynote speaker. The day was expertly guided by emcee Stuart McNish, who also served as co moderator alongside Michael Meneer. Together, they facilitated a full agenda of meaningful dialogue across panels including BC Success Stories, Energy Economics, Technology and Innovation, and Challenges to Net Zero, creating a balanced and forward looking program .

Beyond strong attendance, the conference delivered a positive financial outcome, generating revenue that will be reinvested directly into advancing BCSEA’s mission. This success is a testament to the commitment of our sponsors, speakers, volunteers, and members. More importantly, the conversations throughout the day reinforced a clear and consistent message: now is the time to strengthen our collective voice. At a moment when government priorities are under pressure and funding decisions are increasingly scrutinized, the role of organizations like BCSEA has never been more important.

A recurring theme from speakers, including leaders such as Mark Jaccard, was the importance of maintaining and advancing policy frameworks that enable sustainable energy growth. Initiatives such as carbon pricing, low carbon fuel standards, and renewable natural gas programs have been hard fought and are essential to bridging today’s hydrocarbon based systems with tomorrow’s cleaner energy solutions. These tools create the conditions for innovation to mature, just as we have seen with wind and solar. They also support emerging opportunities in hydrogen, carbon management, and advanced materials derived from hydrocarbons, ensuring a balanced and practical transition that strengthens both our economy and our environment.

The momentum from this conference must now translate into action. If you are not yet a member of BCSEA, we are asking you to join today. Your membership is not symbolic, it is foundational. It strengthens our ability to advocate, to protect the policies and incentives that enable this transition, and to ensure that the progress we have fought hard to achieve is not lost at a time when difficult decisions are being made. We encourage our current members to bring a colleague, a partner, or a peer into the association and help grow a collective voice that government and industry cannot ignore. This is how we move forward together, by building a strong, representative, and engaged membership that can influence the future of sustainable energy in British Columbia.