British Columbia is blessed with an abundance of natural resources that have helped build a legacy of clean power in our province. We have some of the lowest electricity rates in North America, and the vast majority of our power comes from clean sources. We’ve set goals for increased energy conservation, and require at least 90 per cent of power to come from clean sources.
Challenges and Opportunities:
A lack of investment in new power generation in the 1990s means B.C. has become a net importer of electricity – we have to buy power from other jurisdictions, often generated from coal, gas or other sources that negatively impact our environment. Our growing population and economy means we need more power, and investments in power infrastructure, while at the same time we need to make sure power generation doesn’t contribute to our greenhouse gas emissions. We see strong long-term value for our environment and ratepayers in becoming “self-sufficient” for power. This means looking at growing our Hydro assets, making aggressive moves towards increasing conservation, and also exploring partnerships with the independent power production (IPP) sector to provide us with new generation options.
Discussion:
How can we meet the fast-growing power needs of our province in a way that is economical and fiscally responsible – especially when energy prices are climbing around the world? Clean, green independent power projects already supply close to 15 per cent of BC Hydro power and support 1,100 construction jobs right now – should we expand that role, and if so, what types of projects should we consider? Should we pursue more large public power projects such as Site C? And should we continue to work towards being energy self-sufficient, or should we simply continue to import our power?
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