Director irate over Site C report by BC Hydro

PEACE RIVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - A seemingly ordinary Site C Dam update presented by BC Hydro turned into a heated debate.

At the Peace River Regional District PRRD meeting, Area C Director Arthur Hadland was troubled by many factors he said were missing from the Stage 2 report of BC Hydro's method to get the Site C project underway.

"I think this thing is a frame process. I do think a spin is going on," he said.

One of the issues Hadland brought up with BC Hydro was the lack of representation from the rural communities affected by the Site C Dam, stating that the invitations to the Site C announcement earlier this spring excluded the rural directors.

Community relations manager for Site C Dave Conway addressed the invitation matter by pointing out that invitations were sent to groups, not to individuals.

"Invitations come to the organization, which is the Regional District. I would think as a board you would deliberate on who the representative is," said Conway. "It is not excluded to being represented strictly by the chairÂ…. You the regional district decide who you want to send," said Conway.

Hadland countered.

"If you look around this table, it's all the mayors and the four electoral directors that represent this region. I think this is marginalizing and minimizing," he said.

Armed with statistics, Hadland argued that information from B.C. Stats refuted what BC Hydro presented regarding exporting energy.

Hadland said that in seven of the last 12 years, the province has been in a net export position.

Conway's reply was that StatsCan's numbers do not represent trade between the province of Alberta and BC Hydro, and that BC Hydro does not include numbers for the electricity produced by other producers in the province."When we refer to numbers for BC Hydro inboards, they are for BC Hydro, which is 95 per cent customer based in British Columbia," said Conway.

Hadland said he thinks that the British Columbia Utilities Commission needs to be involved as an objective body that would make a ruling.

"Then it's not done with a background political agenda," he said. "Because that's what this is all about." Hadland also mentioned alternatives that BC Hydro could look into citing the proposed Thunder Mountain wind project outside of Tumbler Ridge.

"It's capable of producing not quite twice what Site C is, yet it won't flood any agricultural land, it won't ruin the most beautiful valley in Western Canada, it won't cover up any of those old artifacts we have out thereÂ… and it'll leave the wildlife the way it should be. The way it was intended," he said. "And that is an alternative. That's way more than what would be produced by this project Site C."

"There's a big difference between wind and micro-hydro, and a large hydro project," explained Conway.

For example, on a high peak demand day in January, Christmas lights are on, people are back to work and it's 25 to 30 below zero, "we know that that energy will be there for us. With wind or micro-hydro, we don't know it's going to be there," said Conway.

"Wind capacity can't be guaranteed. You need five megawatts of wind to equal one megawatt of capacity with large hydro."

Conway said that BC Hydro does look to other resources for power other than hydro. "We are purchasing it wind powerÂ… it's not one thing or the other, we need it all, and all of it starts with energy conservation."

It is forecast that in the next 20 years, the provincial population will grow by more than one million people, and electricity requirements will increase by 20 to 40 per cent. BC Hydro does not have enough hydroelectric assets to meet this estimated demand.

But Hadland was still not convinced, and said he will persist in the fight against Site C.

"There's no objectivity," he said. "That Stage 2 report is just awful, there's nothing of any substanceÂ… it's more of the spin and we don't know what is true."

Related News

powerlines

Quebec authorizes nearly 1,000 megawatts of electricity for 11 industrial projects

MONTREAL - The Quebec government has unveiled the list of 11 companies whose projects were given the go-ahead for large-scale power connections of 5 megawatts or more, for a total of 956 MW.

Five of the selected projects relate to the battery sector, and two to the bioenergy sector.

TES Canada's plan to build a green hydrogen production plant in Shawinigan, announced on Friday, is on the list.

Hydro-Québec will also supply 5 MW or more to the future Northvolt plant at its facilities in Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville.

Other industrial projects selected are those of Air Liquide Canada, Ford-Ecopro CAM Canada S.E.C, Nouveau monde…

READ MORE
power lines

Buyer's Remorse: Questions about grid modernization affordability

READ MORE

rolls royce nuclear

Rolls-Royce signs MoU with Exelon for compact nuclear power stations

READ MORE

powerlines

Report call for major changes to operation of Nova Scotia's power grid

READ MORE

thermoelectric materials

A new approach finds materials that can turn waste heat into electricity

READ MORE