Green energy group leaves out consumers

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA - The B.C. government's new green energy task force is stacked with environmentalists who feed "green hysteria" and private energy industry representatives who stand to benefit from public subsidies, the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation says.

In late November, the B.C. Liberal government appointed 29 people to four advisory committees, and invited public submissions until the end of 2009. The task force is to make recommendations to government by the end of January.

Maureen Bader, B.C. director of the taxpayer group, said it's also significant that the B.C. Utilities Commission isn't represented on the task force to advocate for low electricity rates.

"Not only does it lack representation from the BCUC, there are no representatives from consumer groups, business or industry, who would be on the hook to pick up the cost of subsidization of renewable energy projects," Bader said in her submission to the task force.

"The task force must not undermine the original reason for bringing the private sector into the electricity marketplace – to keep prives competitive and shift some of the risk for new projects from the taxpayer to the private sector."

Bader noted that the BCUC found in 2008 that BC Hydro's long-term energy acquisition plan was "not in the public interest" because of the high cost of clean power from independent sources.

"Unfortunately for ratepayers, the government told BC Hydro and the BCUC to consider social and environmental issue when making energy purchase decisions," she told the task force. "This means the mandate of the BCUC could change from getting the best deal for ratepayers to fulfilling the arbitrary political whims of the party in power."

Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom and Environment Minister Barry Penner named the four panels on November 20.

The advisory group on community and aboriginal participation is chaired by James Hoggan, who also chairs the David Suzuki Foundation. Members include Chief Ken Brown of the Klahoose First Nation, David Andrews of run-of-river developer Cloudworks Energy, Craig Lodge, president of Pinnacle Pellet Inc. and Mike Bernier, mayor of Dawson Creek.

The advisory panel on procurement and regulatory reform includes Mossadiq Umedaly, former chair of BC Hydro, John Keating, CEO of Canadian Hydro Developers, and Larry Blain, CEO of Partnerships BC, the government's advisor on public-private developments. The chair is Tim Newton, former president of BC Hydro's export arm, Powerex.

The panel on resource development is chaired by John Webster, director of the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association. Other members are Craig Aspinall, an executive with Western GeoPower Corp., Tzeporah Berman, executive director of PowerUp Canada and co-founder of ForestEthics, Matt Horne of the Pembina Institute and John Walker, CEO of FortisBC.

The group assigned to carbon pricing, trading and export market development is chaired by Vancouver lawyer Cheryl Slusarchuk, who previously headed Premier Gordon Campbell's technology council.

Members include Scott MacDonald, CEO of the Pacific Carbon Trust, and James Tansey, President of Offsetters BC.