The worst public policy in BCs history

March 26 2008

Globe and Mail reporter Mark Hume wrote on October 29th, 2007 that ‘the privatization of energy in BC may be the worst public policy ever pursued by government in this province.’

Former Social Credit cabinet minister and media personality Rafe Mair stated in an article entitled Campbell’s power to harm rivers that ‘the Campbell government is making certain people rich at the expense of the public.’

If these statements are accurate, why has there been so little public outcry, and why has it taken this long for stakeholders and community leaders to speak out about the effects of the Liberal’s BC Energy Plan?

In a nutshell, the BC Energy Plan forbids the building of new power generation facility by BC Hydro, and requires that BC Hydro buy new power from private sources, the majority of those projects being run-of-river hydroelectric projects which will built on hundreds of rivers throughout BC.

When the idea of run-of-river projects was first brought forward, people were told that these projects were ‘green’ and clean; we were told that they were environmentally benign.  While this may be true in individual cases on the smallest scale, groups like the Wilderness Committee who initially supported the concept of run-of-river are now raising alarm bells.

In British Columbia, licenses and approvals for run-of-river hydroelectric projects are being handed out with virtually no consideration for the cumulative effects of the permanent alteration of so many of our rivers and creeks.  No thought is being given to the cumulative damage of so many transmission lines criss-crossing our wilderness.  And local residents no longer have any say in how their backcountry is going to be used.

In the book Liquid Gold: Energy Privatization in British Columbia, Simon Fraser University professor John Calvert says that ‘the privatization of BC’s energy supply is putting rivers at risk environmentally, driving up energy prices and undermining the viability of BC Hydro.’

The ‘green’ veneer on the Liberals BC Energy Plan is wearing thin as people look more closely at the true effects of the privatization agenda.  Every British Columbian needs to take the time to learn the truth about what is happening to our energy systems, and demand that this government do the right thing to be true and responsible steward of our public lands.

The cost for electricity in BC is rising and British Columbians want to know why

The BC Liberal government will tell you that it costs more to generate power and that the cost of maintaining and building transmission lines is growing, but they are not telling us the whole story.

BC Hydro has a long history of providing affordable electricity to British Columbians while selling our excess power into the North American grid, keeping the crown corporation profitable and sustainable.

BC Hydro has been a tremendous asset owned by the people of British Columbia, but since 2001, the Liberal government has consistently worked to undermine that asset with no regard to the cost to both British Columbians and to our environment.

Public funds were used to identify hundreds of sites throughout the province that had potential to be used for hydro power developments, but in 2002, BC Hydro was prohibited by the BC Liberals from developing any new power sites. The government then made the decision to allow these identified locations to be sold to private interests for as little as $5000 per site.

BC Hydro was then required to enter into power contracts with these companies. These contracts guarantee a very lucrative price for electricity generated through run-of-river private power projects. These exorbitant rates that we will pay private producers for that power will make these projects so valuable to private companies that the cost of building these projects is minor in comparison.

At present, BC Hydro electricity costs about $5.98/MWh to produce. Last year, BC Hydro paid private power companies $60.67/MWh and newer purchase agreements have rates as high $89.00/MWh.

This is not free enterprise; this is a government manipulating a situation that ensures massive profits for private business while BC residents are stuck with the bill.

But that’s not all. Not only did public money pay to do all the research to identify the sites, public money will also pay for all the new transmission lines to service all of these projects. That will cost you $600 million.

And, when these very lucrative contracts are up, these power producers will have no obligation to continue to provide power to British Columbians. The citizens of British Columbia will lose control ofthese rivers and will no longer own the electricity that is produced on them.

We are giving away our rivers and we are going to pay more for power in the process. British Columbians need to take the time to understand the truth behind the rising cost of hydro in this province.