GE leads race for B.C. green energy deals

BRITISH COLUMBIA - A game of green one-upmanship kicked off at the Olympics over the past two days, as General Electric rolled out two clean power deals that were personally backed by an executive with a $23-billion (US) energy portfolio.

In its downtown Vancouver Olympic digs, surrounded by crowds celebrating the first sunshine of the Games, GE staged an intimate event that leaned heavily to provincial cabinet ministers. The headline announcement saw the global powerhouse move forward on $887-million (Canadian) worth of hydro and wind power plants. The larger theme, pitched directly to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell by GE CEO Jeff Immelt during a private dinner, is GE's willingness to fund a massive expansion of British Columbia's renewable power sector.

All of this lobbying by GE played out ahead of another series of green energy initiatives.

Showman Richard Branson will take the stage in Vancouver later in the Games to announce an expansion of his Carbon War Room initiative that includes an alliance with Vancouver's mayor, Gregor Robertson. And Mr. Campbell is expected to announce some of his own energy-related initiatives in the next 24 hours. The my-project-is-greener-than-yours competition between both politicians and corporations is starting to resemble the Canada-Russia hockey rivalry.

For GE, the B.C. government is emerging as a showcase client. The province has ambitious plans of generating 90 per cent of its electricity from renewable power by 2016. Hitting that goal will require massive spending on generating gear, which GE manufactures, and massive infusions of capital, which GE supplies.

The guy with the key to the vault is Alex Urquhart, CEO of a $23-billion division of GE Energy Financial Services. Mr. Urquhart's team pays for energy developments of all stripes worldwide. GE's only Canadian projects are in B.C.

"We have the opportunity to invest anywhere in the world, and we have chosen to invest here," Mr. Urquhart told an audience sipping dynamite Okanogan wines at a reception staked beside what's known as GE Plaza, ground zero for Olympic celebrations.

The GE unit has teamed up with Vancouver-based Plutonic Power to build the 196-megawatt Toba Montrose hydro project, on the Pacific coast, and the reborn Dokie Wind Project, near Fort St. John in northeastern B.C.

By the end of the year, GE and Plutonic will be generating electricity from the Toba run-of-river project — it doesn't use dams to create power — after spending $660-million. When it comes to wind power, Mr. Urquhart made a case for doubling the planned Dokie facility to 300 megawatts, which would qualify as the largest wind farm west of Ontario.

Winemakers who want Ontario's backing can take a lesson from the Olympics: It helps to have a celebrity on your label.

The day after Wayne Gretzky lit the outdoor cauldron, provincial politicians were pouring No. 99 Estates' eponymous Riesling for a high-end crowd at the opening of Ontario House, the province's pavilion at these Games.

Mike Weir Chardonnay was also featured, at just the right temperature, as were a number of offerings from the vineyards of Dan Aykroyd.

The wines were part of a larger event that saw provincial Minister of Tourism and Culture Michael Chan pitch to several hundred business, political and media types.

In a refreshing show of bipartisan support, federal Conservative cabinet minister Stockwell Day shared the stage for the brief formal part of the evening, then worked the crowd with the provincial Liberal cabinet minister.

At the Olympics, even the simple act of pouring a glass of wine needs to be approached diplomatically.

Jackson-Triggs is the official winemaker at the Games, and a major player in the province's vineyards. In a nod to those roles, there were Jackson-Triggs whites and reds served alongside the celebrity-endorsed brands as Ontario House opened its doors.

And corporate cousin Inniskillin Wines got a big boost at the bash, with a special station set up to dole out glasses of its icewine. Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin are owned by Vincor International, the Ontario-based arm of Constellation Brands. The wines backed by Mr. Gretzky, Mr. Weir and Mr. Aykroyd are owned by private, Ontario-based companies.