A speedskater when he was young, Mike Terpstra got the call in 2007 to revisit his skating connection as leader of the BC Hydro team working on the Olympic speed skating Oval in Richmond, one of 17 Games venues energized by BC Hydro. "I've always watched and taken pride in the Games, but it really has been something else to be part of making it happen, especially in this way,” says Terpstra. "My family is from Holland, the birthplace of speed skating, so I felt so incredibly fortunate to work on the Oval. It's an experience I will never forget."

At the hub of BC Hydro's Olympic efforts and mass coordination is a team of about a dozen employees headed by 2010 Project Director Ann English.

“Just like an athlete practises to be at peak performance, we've made sure our system will be working at peak performance," says English. "It's taken a lot of teamwork across the organization and with other agencies such as the British Columbia Transmission Corporation, the Province and VANOC."

Bruce Douglas has never taken lightly BC Hydro's role in powering the Winter Games.

"It will be the equivalent of staging eight to 10 Super Bowls simultaneously for 17 days," explains Douglas.

Of the 37 circuits that will provide power to Games venues, 20 are new. And many are in high-load growth areas such as False Creek. "The legacy of revitalizing aging infrastructure is a fortunate spin-off," says Douglas.

Perhaps no employee wears the role of ambassador as naturally as Lauren Woolstencroft. The gold-medal winning Paralympic skier and BC Hydro engineer will compete in all five alpine skiing Paralympic events in March.

"I have a unique opportunity to work here at BC Hydro and help work on the design for the distribution infrastructure for the 2010 mountain venues," Lauren wrote in her online diary. "At the same time, I get to compete on Team Canada with hopes to make it to the podium in 2010."

Want to help cheer Lauren on? Show your support and Power the Games!
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*When asked to select an event, pick Lauren's! That's Paralympic Alpine Skiing.

BC Hydro and the VANOC created the Venue Energy Tracker to showcase the innovative sustainability measures implemented in various 2010 Winter Games venues and associated sites through energy management software. The communities involved were challenged with producing world class facilities with a minimal environmental footprint, while maximizing the long term legacies for their residents. The Venue Energy Tracker communicates the energy consumption and savings being realized by various partner venue buildings. To learn all about the green features implemented in the venues' design and construction, and see real-time energy consumption of each venue, visit: www.VenueEnergyTracker.com