company commentary BC Hydro Bc Hydro’s Move to integrated reporting In 2003, BC Hydro released its first-ever integrated Annual Report: Reporting on Triple Bottom Line Performance. The decision to integrate our two stand-alone reports (BC Hydro’s Triple Bottom Line Report and BC Hydro’s Annual Report) was two-fold: first, it allowed us to further demonstrate our commitment to sustainability by integrating sustainability principles within our Annual Report; and second, it allowed us to reduce costs associated with producing two comprehensive Performance Reports. BC Hydro was one of the first companies in Canada to move towards integrated reporting. As there were no reporting models to follow, it was a learning experience for all of those involved. In 2003, our early efforts towards integrated reporting received positive reviews by an Ottawa-based sustainability consultancy – Stratos Inc. In 2003, BC Hydro’s Annual Report was ranked Number 10 out of a total of 35 Canadian-based sustainability reporting companies who participated in the Stratos Benchmark Study entitled ‘Building Confidence’. Two years later, in 2005, we again received positive reinforcement for our integrated approach to reporting in another Stratos Benchmark Study entitled, ‘Gaining Momentum’. In this study, BC Hydro improved the previous ranking from number 10 to number three. BC Hydro aligns its sustainability reporting with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 guidelines and the Electricity Utility Sector Supplement. Each year we post a comprehensive GRI Inventory of reported indicators on the BC Hydro website. This inventory is designed to complement our Annual Report which is prepared primarily for our shareholder, the Province of British Columbia. Sustainability advocates can access the inventory to see what BC Hydro is doing to manage business across the three bottom lines: environmental; social; and economic. The challenge associated with integrated reporting is meeting the reporting requirements of a number of standardised financial and sustainability reporting frameworks as well as meeting the reporting needs of a diverse group of stakeholders. Also, a priority for BC Hydro is to ensure that we align our integrated reporting with what’s material to our business and our stakeholders in a way that supports our strategic direction. We continue to build on our integrated reporting practices by sharing and learning from others. We are starting to see more of a move towards integrated reporting worldwide, especially in some of the European communities. Recently GRI announced the formation of the International Integrated Reporting Committee. The goal of this committee is to create a globally acceptable framework for integrated reporting, that brings together financial, environmental, social, and governance information in a clear, concise, consistent and comparable format. BC Hydro will continue to monitor the development of these guidelines and we are looking forward to assessing how they might benefit our reporting in the future. BC HYDRO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 56 The integrated journey
