Utilities

Did you know that 25% of the world's fresh water supply is located in Canada? A third of that water, or about 8% of the world's total supply, can be found in British Columbia.

About 85% of BC's electric power is produced by falling or moving water. Electric utilities in BC rely on a bountiful source of fresh water to produce hydroelectric power at dams like the Revelstoke and Mica dams in the Kootenays, or the WAC Bennett Dam in the Peace River region.

Electricity is also generated by power plants, most of which are fueled by natural gas.

What's included in utilities?

The utilities industry includes establishments that operate electric power, gas and water utilities. We heat our homes, cook our food and even play computer games using electricity or natural gas that's supplied by the utilities industry. Water purification and distribution, and sewer services are also included in this industry.

Electricity supplies about 11% of the energy used by households, businesses, and factories in British Columbia. Distribution systems make it possible for the province to export excess electric power generated in BC to other provinces and to the rest of North America.

BC Hydro is the main supplier of power in the province. The company operates 18,286 kilometres of transmission lines and 55,254 kilometres of distribution lines that bring power from the generators to consumers. Other companies such as West Kootenay Power also provide service in some areas of the province.

Terasen Gas is the major distributor of natural gas. Natural gas from the Peace River area is transmitted by pipeline to consumers in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island.

What's happened since 1990?

Utilities account for a declining share of total GDP and employment

Utilities employ less than 1% of the province's workforce, a share that has remained fairly stable since 1990. However, their contribution to total GDP is much higher, at about 2%. However, utilities industries haven't been growing quite as fast as the rest of the economy, and their share of total GDP has been falling during the last fifteen years.

Utilities rely heavily on the use of capital equipment

The difference between this industry's share of total GDP and its share of employment reflects the way in which utilities such as electric power and gas distribution are produced.

You may recall that the value added to the economy by an industry is the result of using both capital (equipment) and labour inputs to transform purchased materials into a final product. In this industry, most of the work isn't done by humans.

Electric power utilities use dams (which are a type of capital) and hydroelectric generators to convert water resources into electricity, which is then transmitted along a complex network of power lines to their customers.

Similarly, natural gas which has been extracted from wells (by the mining industry) is first liquefied and then transported through a pipeline system to the gas utility, which then provides the fuel to its clients, whether businesses or consumers.

Water purification plants and sewer systems rely on pipe systems and treatment and processing facilities to provide customers with clean water and to remove their wastewater.

Companies invest a great deal of money building dams and other power generation systems, as well as the power and gas distribution lines, and water and sewer treatment plants and mains. However, once they're in place, the equipment does most of the work that's needed to supply the power, gas or water to customers.

The industry still needs people to operate and maintain the equipment, or to test for impurities, but the human element is much smaller than in most other industries. That's why the ratio of GDP per worker in utilities is so much higher than the average for the economy as a whole. However, the size of the GDP/employment gap has been shrinking. This indicates that labour productivity improvements in utilities have not been as strong as in the rest of the economy.

What are the most common occupations?

As in many other goods industries, tradespeople and transportation equipment operators make up the biggest percentage (34%) of the workforce. Many of them work as power system operators, or are power line and cable workers.

Business, finance and administrative workers, especially clerical workers, make up a quarter of the workforce. Clerical workers are more common in this industry than in many others. One reason for this is that, unlike other industries, which may have a limited number of clients that they serve, utilities provide power, gas and water to millions of households and businesses around the province. A large clerical staff is required to handle all the billing, start-ups, shut-downs and other procedures.

Many of the occupations in this industry are unique to utilities but there's also a large clerical and administrative workforce

Utilities also employ a relatively large number of workers in natural and applied sciences, one in every five workers are in these occupations. Many of them are engineers, computer programmers and operators, and technicians.

Eight percent of the workers in this industry are in occupations unique to processing, manufacturing and utilities. These are mainly water and waste plant operators, and people who work as gas processing operators.

How many people work in the utilities industry, and how much do they earn?

The utilities industry employed 10,300 people in 2005, most (6,900) of whom worked in the electric power industry. Another 1,900 had jobs in natural gas distribution, and 1,500 worked for water and sewer utilities.

The average hourly wage rate was $27.57 in 2005. This is higher than in any of the other major industry groups in BC, and may reflect the relatively large number of highly-skilled workers in this industry, as well as the fact that some (such as power line workers) have jobs that can be quite risky, so their pay includes a risk premium. The average work week in utilities was 38 hours long.

What are the characteristics of the work force?

Virtually every worker (98%) in the industry had a full-time job in 2005. Self-employment is not an option in utilities, since the industry is highly capital intensive and relies on a costly infrastructure network. It's just not feasible for someone to start their own electric power or sewer system company, at least not as a small self-employed business!

Union coverage in the utilities industry is significantly higher than in any of the other goods industries. About 71% of the people who work in this industry have union coverage, more than double the provincial average (33%). Only public administration and education have similarly high rates of union coverage.

The unemployment rate in the utilities industry is extremely low, averaging 2.8% during the period from 1990 to 2005. Utilities are relatively well insulated from the ups and downs that affect other industries in the economy. Generally speaking, the demand for power, or gas, or water and sewer services doesn't really depend on economic conditions.

The weather may have an effect on the amount of power or gas that's used, but heating our homes, cooking meals, and being able to operate appliances and equipment isn't the type of expenditure that most people would view as optional. People might be more careful about turning the lights off when they leave a room, but they're not going to stop using power or fuel even if they're trying to cut back on their other spending. However, commercial usage of electric power and other utility systems may be affected by changes in the economy.

People who are employed in utilities are likely to work in large establishments rather than smaller ones. Only about a quarter of them work at an establishment where there are fewer than 20 employees.

Establishments in utilities tend to be large

Where are the jobs located?

Most of the jobs are located in the major population centres

Fifty-seven percent of the workers in this industry are located in the Lower Mainland region, with another 17% living in Vancouver Island/Coast. Utilities account for a higher-than-average share of total employment in Thompson-Okanagan, Kootenay and Northeast.

What's the outlook to 2014?

Both GDP and employment in this industry are expected to grow at higher-than-average rates during the next few years. Utilities are forecast to continue to generate about 2% of the province's gross domestic product, and employ less than 1% of the workers.

GDP and employment are expected to grow faster than average during the next few years