The BC Government has instructed BC Hydro to undertake a new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), to be filed by February 28, 2021. When BC Hydro’s load forecasts, the key players in the IRP process, environmental legislation, and supply options for reliable capacity are considered, the only certainties that can be drawn are the impending need for additional capacity that is clean and renewable, and the fact that BC Hydro is in a difficult position.
Read MoreWith CleanBC, Government has identified electrification as a means of clean growth moving forward. Unfortunately, Government has yet to provide a comprehensive plan for how electrification should work in BC. Our Plan, as set out through the policies in this series, uses electrification as a vehicle to realize public goods – First Nations reconciliation, GHG reductions and economic development. Our plan represents a strategy of clean growth, one that will lead to realizing a better British Columbia.
Read More“Zapped: A Review of BC Hydro’s Purchase of Power from Independent Power Producers”, is an independent review conducted for BC’s Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resource. The Report reaches a number of conclusions. Many of these determinations, however, rely on incorrect assumptions about both the amount of power that BC Hydro needs, and the real market costs of acquiring that power.
Read MoreTo achieve Government’s environmental goals – BC Hydro must ensure that the province has sufficient electricity generation to meet future demand. Unfortunately, and despite outward confidence on the part of the utility, it is increasingly unlikely that BC Hydro will have the electricity required to support both baseline provincial demand and the future demand growth driven by electrification.
Read MoreThe government of British Columbia is strongly focused on making progress towards it’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. At the same time, however, it needs to protect industry and the economy while also managing to advance First Nations interests. Any policy that fails to lay out how it can work towards all of these goals will be rendered inadequate. While the CleanBC Report is a step in the right direction, it falls short in a number of critical ways, leaving key questions left to be answered…
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