Celebrating Seniors' Week in Alberta
By: Deanna McArthur
At Spot Power, we celebrate seniors year-round. We do this in part because the partners (Nick Clark and Madeline Low) who own and run the company are now well into this age group. They are actually on the cusp between the Silent and Baby Boomer generations. Nick is the Silent one and Madeline is the Boomer. Nick and Madeline created a unique electricity discount program available for seniors. It is a special utility discount which is one of the ways Spot Power shows support for those who may be retired, on fixed incomes, and in respect to those who helped built this province into what it is today.
My mother celebrates her 95th birthday this year and I guess I would categorize her as a senior, but it is all in the minds eye. She uses her iPad and Facebook to keep in touch with the great grandchildren and my aunt, who is also in her early 90s, still plays nine holes of golf twice a week here in Calgary. They have traveled extensively, and a couple of years ago toured Panama and around the Cape in South America. I want to be like them when I reach their age.
But age is just a number. We truly feel lucky and have a great life. With hard work and with the success of our business, now celebrating 40 years in Alberta's energy market, we are able to share and give back to other Seniors in Alberta. It is a good feeling to offer seniors a discount on their utilities. We believe this sets our small local company apart in Alberta’s turbulent energy industry."
The Story Behind Our Senior Discount Program
The Festival of Corpus Christi, Panama, where seniors receive various discounts and benefits through the Pensionado Status program. This program was the inspiration for Spot Power's discounted energy program for Seniors in Alberta.
When traveling to Central America with friends, Nick and Madeline discovered an interesting program in Panama called Pensionado Status. It is a senior program which includes benefits for retirees such as:
- 25% to 30% off both international and domestic airline tickets, bus, boat and train fares.
- 50% hotel discounts and 25% off restaurant bills.
- 50% off entertainment including movies, concerts, sporting events, and theater (this means, for example, a movie ticket will cost you $2).
- All banks have special express lines for retirees.
- A number of living and healthcare discounted services including lower rates for electricity.
"I guess the first time I felt like a senior was when I was ushered, with respect, to the front of the line at one of the banks in Panama," said Nick. "That was when the idea of providing seniors back here in Alberta a discounted electricity rate was born."
Spot Power's First Senior Rate Customer
Aunt Phyllis, Spot Power's first customer on the discounted senior rate.
Following a family trip in 2013 Nick's aunt wanted some of the same discounted benefits they discovered in Panama. She was Spot Power's first customer on the senior discount rate! We are happy to share that Aunt Phyllis has saved enough money on her electricity bill to pay for this year's City of Calgary's golf course senior membership fee.The program has gone through a few changes since its inception, initially the threshold for who was considered a senior was set at 70, but as the years have passed we have lowered this threshold to 60. In reality - the wholesale cost in buying electricity is the same for us at Spot Power, regardless how old the consumer is. All we are doing is lowering our profit margins and giving lower rates to those over 60 a break. It is a good feeling!
In celebrating this years Senior Week in Alberta, we want to extend some thanks to the seniors who have signed up with Spot Power, we are so happy to have you as part of our extended family. We hope you enjoy the summer months and that this year's Senior Week events truly help you on your path to aging well in Alberta.
Below is a list of communities that have officially declared Seniors' Week:
- Athabasca
- County of Vermillion River
- Ponoka
- Bassano
- Glendon
- St. Albert
- Beaumont
- Grimshaw
- Sawridge First Nation
- Bentley
- Hinton
- Stony Plain
- Bon Accord
- Leduc
- Sturgeon County
- Calgary
- Leduc County
- Tofield
- Camrose M.D.
- Wainright No. 61
- Wembley Chauvin
- M.D. of Willow Creek
- Westlock
- County of Newell
- Medicine Hat