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Private River Power Draws Diverse Foes
'Green' claims disputed.
'Run of river' project underway on Ashlu river.
Tom Rankin, president of Save Our Rivers Society, used to have to pester people to get his message out. Now he has plenty of citizens eager to listen.
A keystone of B.C.'s low-emissions energy strategy is power generated by private "run of river" plants driven by rushing water. But what's good for fighting global warming has raised various other fears for Rankin and a diverse range of groups opposed to the projects.
Rankin turned activist when he caught wind of a private hydro development planned for Ashlu creek, just north of Squamish where the rancher calls home. He went to meetings, got on the phone and formed the society to stop what he sees as the "theft of B.C.'s rivers."
One of his converts was Gwen Barlee of the Wilderness Committee, who says Rankin's persistent calls prompted her to look more closely at private hydro projects.
Barlee admits she was initially pleased about BC Hydro's first call for green power proposals in 2003, the year the contract for Ashlu creek was granted.
That changed when she actually saw the project construction site.
"I thought of a little turbine in a stream," she says. "They're called run-of-river projects . . . they should be called river diversion projects."
While environmental and conservation activists have criticized the touting of these projects as "green," a number of other interest groups are mobilizing against private power for other reasons.
"We're seeing a really diverse group of people," says Barlee. "It's indicative of the depth and breadth of private power producers across the province."
Too much, too fast?
Right now there are 35 private power projects up and running, another 45 have been granted contracts and more than 500 water licenses -- obtaining one of these is the first step for hydro project development -- have been bought.
This is too much, too quickly with too little consultation with stakeholders, say opponents. There have been four requests for moratoriums on private hydro development in the province.
In 2005, the Squamish-Lillooet regional district requested a moratorium on "high value" streams in the Sea-to-Sky corridor "until a consensus-based regional strategy is developed to predetermine which rivers are suitable for IPP [independent power producer] development . . ."
Last June, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs called for a moratorium on private hydro development until there was assurance of "transparent" consultation with First Nations and a review of the terms of existing water licenses.
Unions oppose privatization
The NDP, Wilderness Committee, Council of Canadians and Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union have also jointly called for moratoriums.
David Black, president of COPE local 378, says members have been rallying against BC Hydro privatization since 2002 when it launched BC Citizens for Public Power.
In 2003, one-third of BC Hydro jobs were outsourced to Accenture, an international management consulting, technology and outsourcing company.
Carleen Pickard, regional organizer for the Council of Canadians, says there is "widespread support" to stop the proliferation of privately owned hydro projects.
"This is the time for [a moratorium]," says Pickard. "The rubber is hitting the road. The call for a moratorium is not unachievable and it's entirely within the rights of citizens."
Power line would slice park
The latest battleground in this fight to halt private hydro development is a proposed project site approximately 100 kilometres from Vancouver, sandwiched between three provincial parks: Pinecone Burke to the north, Garibaldi to the east and Golden Ears the south.
Northwest Cascade Power Ltd., a subsidiary of Run of River Power Inc., is proposing a 161 MW hydro facility on eight tributaries of the Upper Pitt river.
The project proposal includes building a 43-kilometre transmission line that would cross the northern and southern tips of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park.
The park is designated class A, which allows for the least amount of disruption within its borders. Under the B.C. Parks Act, it's possible to move the borders of a park with a Park Boundary Adjustment Amendment. Run of River has requested such an amendment to allow for the transmission line.
"I anticipate that an amendment will come in some form in the spring session . . . and be debated in the legislature between Feb. 12 and the end of May," says Shane Simpson, Vancouver-Hastings MLA and the NDP critic for the environment and sustainable communities.
Run of River has scheduled the first of three open houses on Upper Pitt and the proposed park boundary adjustment for next Monday in Squamish.
Anyone can fill out a public comment application on the company's website.
Company: 'No feasible route alternative'
Jako Krushnisky, the president of Run of River Power Inc., didn't return calls from The Tyee.
The company's website states that if the amendment is approved, 52 acres would be removed from the park and designated a protected area, managed under a park-use permit.
The website also states that two transmission routes were considered, and "due to the project location and available BC Hydro interconnection points, there is no feasible route alternative that would avoid the need for crossing Pinecone Burke Provincial Park."
Both Simpson and Gwen Barlee of the Wildnerness Committee said they feel government will be watching public response to this project closely.
"We're hearing behind the scenes the government is getting nervous," says Barlee.
Minister: Citizens still own rivers
When asked for comment about public opposition to private hydro development, public affairs for the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum stated the government is not considering a moratorium and e-mailed The Tyee an opinion editorial from Minister Richard Neufeld about private electricity generation in B.C.
"IPPs may own their generating infrastructure but they do not own the rivers and streams. The people of British Columbia continue to own these water resources," states the letter.
"BC Hydro is currently looking at building and expanding electricity generation. It is moving to Stage 2 of reviewing the feasibility of the new Site C project on the Peace River. As well, BC Hydro has undertaken capital investments on several dam sites."
Irrigation worries
Stage two of Site C, which will consist of stakeholder consultation and project definition, will take two years. Construction -- if the project reaches that stage -- wouldn't begin for another seven, according the BC Hydro's website.
Harold Steves, a former NDP MLA who was integral in the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve, lamented what he sees as the loss of the "best publicly-owned power system in North America."
Steves says he hears from farmers who are concerned about not having enough water to irrigate crops.
"I've got farmers contacting me saying that they're losing water rights," he says.
"They don't know how this could happen."
Water level concerns
Last September, a power project on Miller creek near Pemberton shut down and reduced the creek to a trickle. Alarm signals were re-routed to an office in Edmonton, but the incident went unchecked until local farmers alerted BC Hydro.
Andrea Barnett, communications coordinator for the B.C. Cattlemen's Association, said that although she receives many complaints about low water levels, none have been directly attributed to hydro projects.
People in the tourism and outdoor recreation sector are also worried about transmission lines, cleared construction sites and large pipes diverting water and spoiling wilderness destinations.
Chris Laustrup, a photographer, owns 120 acres on the Pitt River near Olsen creek. He, his wife Dianna and their young son moved there to "get away from society" and are currently building a wilderness retreat that will cater to other people looking for escape.
"I'm not an environmentalist, I'm a conservationist. I'm talking about a wise use of natural resources," he says.
Plea for land use plan
"My drive has always been to getting people up there, getting tourism up there," says Laustrop, who was the president of Tourism Pitt Meadows when the organization was in its infancy.
He says the area has the same natural attributes of Whistler and Squamish, but is worried the eco-tourism potential will be spoiled when private power producers move in without a land use plan in effect.
Laustrop says such a plan is necessary to ensure the area is developed appropriately -- and with no infringement on park land.
Jeremy McCall, executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. says he imagines public input on the Pinecone Burke proposal will be "deafening."
'Parks are supposed to be sacred'
The ORC represents about 100,000 direct and indirect members, says McCall. He says the organization is trying to be an "expert" source of information on the public consultation process for the Upper Pitt and other hydro projects.
"Really, parks are supposed to be sacred," he says.
"We're not trying to act politically, we're trying to make sure people know what's going . . . and do what they think they should do," says McCall.
First Nations see costs, benefits
There are certainly differing opinions among aboriginal leaders about what private hydro development means for their people.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip says First Nations communities already in "dire straits" are particularly vulnerable to power companies that promise jobs, skills training and revenue sharing in exchange for land and water rights.
Last April, a 119 MW project on the East Toba river, north of Powell River, was approved after consultation with Klahoose Chief Ken Brown.
Brown said when the project proponent, Plutonic Power Corporation, expressed interest in developing Klahoose territory, it was like "the stars had aligned."
Plutonic is spending $34 million on an initiative to rebuild old logging roads and bridges that have been decommissioned for 20 years, something the Klahoose could never have afforded, says Brown.
"You sit around waiting for a treaty settlement or you step up to the plate," says Brown. "You interface with private business and create economic opportunities for people. I try not to focus on the divisiveness of it."
'Election issue' says grand chief
Phillip says private hydro development on rivers, streams and waterways "flies in the face of everything we consider important" and urged activist groups to reach "beyond the usual suspects" and let ordinary people know how privately owned power will affect them.
"We're 15 months out from the next election," says Phillip. "This issue has to become part of everyone's kitchen table talk."
Related Tyee stories:
- A 'Green' Threat to B.C.'s Rivers?
Touted by BCHydro as renewable electricity, the rush to install privatized 'micro-hydro' schemes may change the flow of 76 B.C. rivers. - BC's Billion-Dollar Wind Power Giveaway
We're heavily subsidizing private power developers. Will Californians profit big? - In Telkwa, Surviving Off the Grid
It's minus 34 tonight and the generator just quit. Why did we say no to Hydro?
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
- BC snuffs out AirCare test program
- AFN national chief Shawn Atleo to launch re-election bid
- Citizens group releases video to fight undead Bill C-30
- Conservative MP says he might vote against budget, then 'clarifies' his position
- Genetically modified plants won't take root with councillors in Richmond, BC
- Hundreds at Vancouver rally to support Quebec students
- Could Fort Mac become an eco-tourist hotspot?
- Rick Hansen's Man in Motion anniversary tour concludes in Vancouver
- The Gem of Canadian Science that Harper Killed
- Who Mowed Down the Premier?
- Canada's Economy, Deconstructed (by a 12 year-old)
- Death in Remand: a Tyee Inquiry
- Now Is the Time to Talk up Big Ideas
- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
- Bill C-38: the Environmental Destruction Act
- Death In Remand: 'A Gut Feeling'
- Bias in BC's Pesticide Decision? Follow the Bouncing Verbs
- The Ethics of Addiction Studies
- The Gem of Canadian Science that Harper Killed
- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
- Now Is the Time to Talk up Big Ideas
- The Ethics of Addiction Studies
- Bill C-38: the Environmental Destruction Act
- Alberta Fills Pipes with Corrosive Denial
- Bias in BC's Pesticide Decision? Follow the Bouncing Verbs
- How Our Immune Systems Exaggerate Fear
- BC biotech company seeks approval for GM apple
- What's Behind BC's Doors?
- The Ethics of Addiction Studies
- What's Behind BC's Doors?
- The Gem of Canadian Science that Harper Killed
- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
- Should You Run from that Medical Test?
- 'The Dictator'
- Death in Remand: Stacked Deck
- 'Moonrise Kingdom'
- From Financial Advisor to Occupier
- Seven Goals to Build the Conservative 'Dream'
- Double lung recipient dances on Ellen show
- ISS astronauts grab DragonX space capsule by the tail with Canada Arm
- Metro Vancouver gas prices peak at record levels
- Ottawa posts $9-billion deficit in March despite pledge to avoid spending spree
- BC phases out AirCare to focus on fighting bigger vehicle emissions
- Tsunami senors to be dropped into deep sea off of Vancouver Island
- Student groups file court challenge against Quebec protest law
- ...while on the streets, pirates and ninjas put aside mutual animosity to join student protests
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snert
4 years ago
Way better than dams
They may not look nice but much less damaging than a full fledged dam.
Luke Skywalker
4 years ago
Nuclear power or coal-fired
Nuclear power or coal-fired plants anybody???
Sheesh, during the 1990's, BC Hydro didn't do anything except propose a greenhouse-gas spewing, gas-fired electrical plant on Duke Point on Vancouver Island, which was finally abandoned at a cost of $hundreds of millions.
The final cost of Site C on the Peace River will likely result in greater environmental degradation than these run-of-the-river ("ROTR") projects combined.
And the cost of such electrical generation from Site C will also likely be greater than any of these ROTR projects.
The environmental degradation both visually, on land, as well as to bird life is also high for wind-generating stations.
Apparently BC Hydro weas never interested in these smaller ROTR projects over the years and, as this article neglects to mention, many First Nations also have a financial stake in these projects.
Kudos to them!
Chris Bouris
4 years ago
straight goods
where's the money going and who benefits? watch and listen carefully.
Grumpy
4 years ago
Can't we just conserve?
One problem with power in BC is the profligate waste of power. I believe that inexpensive solar panels be used to power, some electrical outlets in houses that power clocks and alike. A $1000 solar panel & mains, is affordable for new houses and would certainly cut down in electric consumption.
We have to think 'out of the box' to solve the problem.
snert
4 years ago
Can't we just conserve?
Might work if we didn't keep inviting more people in to share the fruits of our labour. As that's unlikely to happen we would just wind up back at square one (having to expand the grid) in short order anyhow.
skeptikool
4 years ago
Green power is pure motherhood
As gasoline and diesel fuel prices continue upward, the demand for plug-in electric vehicles and "green" power to supply them will grow. This should not be a license to rip off the consumer/taxpayer for any green-labeled project - as we have seen happening with ridiculously-priced, hydrogen fuel-cell buses, for instance, in my opinion.
I believe much of that power might come from the high tech burning of much of the Lower Mainland's garbage. The shipping of that trash that required an almost-700 kilometer round trip, with 35 diesel trucks, was insane from the start, in both financial and environmental costs.
kootcoot
4 years ago
Glacier/Howser Creek Project
I would advise anyone interested in these so called "green" run of the river IPPs to look into the particulars of the proposed project on two creeks that currently flow into Duncan River and the Duncan Reservoir north of Kaslo BC. Actually it is hard (for me) to keep this project totally separate in one's mind from the Jumbo Glacier Resort.
This might be because part of the scheme involves building a High Voltage Transmission Line over Jumbo Pass to move the power east and south (most likely for easier export). The often touted "grid" already is accessible less than ten miles from the mouth of Glacier Creek, so it would suggest some hidden agenda is behind the need for 90+ kms of new hydro towers.
It hardly seems "green" to me when the plan involves diverting up to 80% of the flow from Glacier Creek (the creek flowing west from Jumbo Creek and Jumbo Pass) and sending it through a tunnel to add to Howser Creek which will then flow through the turbines. 50,000 tandem trucks of rock and muck will be dumped locally as a result of making the 16 km tunnel for diversion. The lower 10+ kms of both creeks will be virtually dry creek beds. Somehow this doesn't sound particularly green to me, or probably spawning kokanee either. As a downstream (of the diversion) user of Glacier Creek water said recently:
BTW, Duncan Lake itself is made by a dam built in the 1960's under the Columbia River Treaty for upstream storage. Currently there is NO power generation at all at Duncan Dam, though installing turbines on an already existant dam certainly seems like a more evironmentally friendly/more efficient way to generate power from the same streams and others that feed the Duncan River. Of course installing turbines at an already built dam goes counter to the Campbell governments radical privatization agenda.
kootcoot
4 years ago
Aboriginal Concerns
I just wanted to point out that while there are aboriginals with a possible stake and thus interest in Jumbo Resort, I know of no such issues on this side of the divide or Glacier/Howser. The nearest native band to my house has been legislated out of existence, i.e. declared extinct. Now there's a way to deal with Native Land Claims.
City Person
4 years ago
Damned if you do, Dammed if you don't
I am new to this board but I can say this. My dad worked for BC Hydro for years. He was always amazed that the huge amount of rapidly flowing water was rescource that was not being used. Now it is and I think it is a better alternative than a nuclear or coal plant. We all use electricity.
As for solar panels, perhaps they might be a useful soft energy scource in the future but now, especially on the coast, they are not going to be economical.
Conservation is of course the best route. I suggest everyone here turn off their computers 15 days a month.
Peter Dimitrov
4 years ago
Where I stand
Prior to the BC Liberal election there was NOT a market for electrical energy use in British Columbia. Electrical power was, (and is) obstensibly produced by BC Hydro, and industrial, commercial and residential rates were set by a Utilities Commission as appointed and directed by the Minister responsible. BC Hydro was vertically integrated, generation of power, with distribtution via its own transmission lines. Exports were taken care of by Powerex which at that time had received a federal and provincial energy export certificate. BC Hydro had many assets in addition to the dams and transmission lines. It had intellectual property pertaining to know-how of its Power Smart program - which was unique throughout North America - as most US utilities had no such program, given that they wanted their consumers to consume more electricity, not less. Secondly, BC Hydro's intellectual property consisted of multi-million dollar research reports pertaining to the locations and capacities of all micro-hydro and wind potential sites in the province. Both of these significant intellectual property assets were paid for by you-the ratepayers.
The BC Liberals came along, and their first BC Energy Policy, obstensibly written by big corporate players, all of whom want to see an electrical market produced, yet wanted a virtually perpetual electrical rate/price guarantee from the cheap Heritage power of the Peace and Columbia rivers. They got their way, Campbell outsourced about 1/3 of BC Hydro to Accenture, that contract is still private, the cost/benefit analysis is still not released, despite Minister Neufeld promising to do so on CBC radio and in writing to me many years ago. Then, they told BC Hydro - they could not build new power generation facilities, only improve existing ones. They freely released the BC Hydro reports on micro energy and wind energy sites to the private energy corporations who were all geared up to 'stake' their claims on BC Rivers.Said companies, lined up to apply, at dirt cheap prices, for a water licence, on hundreds of rivers and creeks in BC- and thus we have a tumultous market.
Moat
4 years ago
Rapidly Flowing Water
City Person wrote:
Your was father right to say that there is a lot of rapidly flowing water that we can use. Some of it bounds down cliffs and ledges, and we could probably harness it without people, fish, and other wildlife even noticing. Mind you, I am not an engineer, so I can make a solution sound easy.
The Ashlu creek project appears to have some pretty big impacts though. It is a river that flows on a valley bottom, and therefore, is cheap to develop. Seems that when "costs" are involved, nature always loses. What a theme here, eh?
I used to spend a lot of time up there (at Ashlu) several years ago. So close to the city, yet seemed so wild (even though logged to pieces). I miss that place.
villager
4 years ago
ROR justified
People's biases are so obvious in this debate: unions are agaist private power because it goes against their bigger-is-better mentality, ecotourism folks are concerned about impacts to their bottom line, and conservationists are against anything that isn't old growth forest.
Of course, the IPP's have their own motivation as well: return on capital. But honestly, I can't think of a more justifiable enterprise than one that seeks to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. The capitalists will get their loot, but for once it seems like a fair trade. I get clean air and an economy that's detached from the impending economic disaster of peak oil.
If we are really concerned about a tiny overall percentage of our rivers being harnessed for renewable electricity, then lets see a real, grassroots campaign in favour of conservation. The alternatives to either are much, much uglier.
Peter Dimitrov
4 years ago
where I stand-Part 11
Dr. John Calvert's book "Liquid Gold: Energy Privatization in British Columbia" ( published by Fernwood Publishing) chronicles in great detail how we are losing a key public asset and to whom. Likewise the work of SFU's Dr. Martin Shaffer,"Lost in Transmission: A Comprehensive Critique of the BC Energy Plan" is highly informative (available at the COPE 378 website). Both of these reports expose the incredible stupidity of the BC energy policy and the virtually give-away, of scarce micro-hydro water licences to the private corporations. The private power produced is obstensibly not firm or reliable power, it is mosly produced during the spring freshet, when BC already has a surplus of power, and thus it is available at the wrong time of year. Of course, the private power producers want to store, at public subsidy their non-firm power behind our public dams, to somehow convert that non-firm power into more valuable firm power. The price to consumers of that power, especially when you add in the BC Transmission line inter-change costs that will be incurred by the BC Transmission line will be extremely costly- see recent headlines in the Vancouver Sun - of 25% of more rate increases coming. Worst of all, the public gets no ownership of the assets of the private energy corporation- it is privately owned not publicly owned. Then there are the environmental impacts. [b]Presently there are 128 approved licenses on 115 water courses in British Columbia. There are 435 licence applications on an additional 466 water courses. This implies there are a total of 563 current and potential licenses on up tp 581 water courses.
The environmental assessment process is deeply flawed. Check out my article on that at:
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20080215012503208
Google ourrivers.ca --and see the CTV show called Blue Gold Rush, and the video called Power Play.
Peter Dimitrov
4 years ago
Where I stand-Part 111
With a majority government there is nothing her Majesty's Loyal Opposition can do to halt, reverse or stop this. Perhaps, you, as a voter, can organize a group of people in each constituency, arrange an appointment with your MLA, and demand, accountabilty for why he or she votes to support this BC Energy Policy. Demand, indeed, instruct your MLA, that you want an immediate moratorium placed on the issuance of further water licences for power generation, and a cease work order in council order on all projects currently under construction. Demand a full public debate on BC Energy's Policy between the Minister responsible and people such as Dr.Calvert and Dr. Shaffer. Read my critique of the Environmental Assessment process to see how deeply flawed it is. In 2012 the new rates will kick in, along with the new power smart meters at you home...you wont' be singing or dancing when you pay for private energy's bill or the BC Liberals ill-considered Energy Plan. As for First Nations receiving benefit from Hydro-electrical generation, just like in Manitoba, I support the provision, of a 33% equity position in all public power projects provided they drop their support and equity involvement in private power projects.
G West
4 years ago
Thank you Peter
No one has done or is doing more to educate British Columbians about the way the Campbell government has been raping and pillaging the public assets of this province since 2001 than you have.
One wonders how the electorate will feel as the new rates begin to kick in and BC goes from having a competitive advantage in clean power to being little more than another, west-coast version, of the Enron scam.
About the only thing ‘green’ about this government is the footwear of our female ‘Dorian Gray’ Minister of Finance.
City Person
4 years ago
Tade offs
All rescource developmet requires a trade off. Do we want to keep our enviorment pristine or do we want to individually reduce our consumption? Do we, for example, want to use our computers only 10 days a month?
Ultimately, it is up to the individual.
kootcoot
4 years ago
Look at the numbers
Villager, I know that the "run of the river" power generation sounds all nice and green and practical. However many of the projects are VERY FAR from run of the river and require massive diversions and massive evironmental destruction.
Worse than that however is the financial set-up. Not only is BC Hydro restricted from building any new power generation, but they are basically forced by the government to sign onto long-term (20-30 years) agreements to purchase power from the IPPs for 10-20 times the current cost of production of energy. Then the IPPs,( in the case of Glacier/Howser all directors being from Montreal, no local participation), go to the bank with the signed agreement and basically we finance their construction costs. They have to invest $5000 or so for the water license and then pay almost criminal royalties of 1% or so in future.
Local increases in utility rates of 25-35% are outrageously optimistic - try double, triple and worse. Check the cost in Phoenix, and that is what we'll pay, or we won't have access to the power. We won't have energy security or any control over rates. However, no matter what they say on TeeVee, it isn't power shortages that will drive these price increases it is the game being set up by the BC Liberal government. Think Enron, think rolling power outages in California, think SCAM.
EDITED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS -- TYEE MODERATOR Kinder took his buy-out money from Enron and teamed up with his old school buddy Morgan and voila, lines do old faithful with oil in PoCo. In Washington they go boom and kill people.
Fiat lux
4 years ago
What nobody dares to mention
What nobody dares to mention is that most of the power is already used to light up inefficient, waste producing cities and in industries, where dozens and hundreds of hp. are used to "become more efficient" by firing a few 1/2 hp. humans to steal their wages, while calling it "earnings".
Unless we turn to physical efficiency based economic systems, we can kiss the human race goodbye.
Ed Deak.
skeptikool
4 years ago
There is a way
There is a benign way in which electrical power can be derived from swift-running rivers. If we imagine a tethered paddle-wheeler or stern-wheeler coupled to generators. Screens would be required to protect the blades from debris, though the winter months might present insurmountable icing problems.
If there was sufficient depth it could even work with a propellor and still be operative despite surface ice.
I much prefer the use of tide and wave however. There is incredible potential being ignored in those sources. The sad thing is that instead of Vancouver being self-sufficient in electricity production we have Mainland residents with EMF concerns disputing whether power lines to the Island, passing through residential neighborhoods, should be above ground or buried.
I hope a sane resolution is reached before more millions of consumer dollars are spent in more studies and legal fees. It is the consumer, after all, who will pay.
villager
4 years ago
Massive Destruction?
Kootcoot:
If you think that a 3 metre diameter pipe is a 'massive diversion', or that an access road, electrical lines, and a 20 square-metre powerhouse is part of a 'massive environmental destruction', then I'd hate to hear what terms you'd use to describe oil and gas drilling, or a coal plant, or ... any one of the 30 huge B.C. Hydro dams.
These ROR projects will be considered a bargain 10 years down the road when the reality of peak oil sets in. B.C. stands to become a world leader in a carbon-neutral society as a result of our abundance of viable sites for renewable energy production.
If there are increases to our electricity cost, I think that most people would accept that. We've had some of the lowest electricity rates in Canada for a generation, and that certainly doesn't encourage conservation or efficiency.
skeptikool
4 years ago
See what I mean? Power demand for plug-in EVs
Advertising? Sure it is. But who could object to such a product. This just received - and the reason we will, doubtless, need much more green power:
copy:
Dear Chevy Volt Enthusiast:
You're invited!
GM-Volt.com has served for over a year to bring you information about the car that will change the world, the Chevy Volt. Now we have the chance to take it to the next level.
GM has agreed to host an event in association with GM-Volt.com we are calling the VOLT NATION town hall meeting.
You are invited to attend this ground-breaking conference on Wednesday, March 19th at 4:30 PM in New York City at the Jacob Javitz convention center.
The first 250 people to register will get guaranteed free entry including a press pass, since the event will be taking place on the last press day (prior to opening to the public) of the New York Auto Show.
We will all have a chance to meet and check out the Volt. More importantly, the entire GM executive team responsible for building and designing the car will be there to answer your questions for all to hear.
Don't miss this unprecedented opportunity!
To register, you can go to this location and enter you name, address, email, and phone number:
http://www.gm-volt.com/2008/02/19/youre-invited-volt-nation-town-hall-meeting/
OR, if you would like, you can simply email that information to
. Your information will be taken to issue you the pass, and will be secure with me and GM.
See you in New York!
Lyle
Budd Campbell
4 years ago
WHAT ABOUT DAVID STUPICH AND ROBERT WILLIAMS ?
Harold Steves, a former NDP MLA who was integral in the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve, lamented what he sees as the loss of the "best publicly-owned power system in North America."
Steves says he hears from farmers who are concerned about not having enough water to irrigate crops.
"I've got farmers contacting me saying that they're losing water rights," he says.
"They don't know how this could happen."
Please correct me if I am wrong. The two individuals most clearly associated with the introduction and passage of the Agricultural Land Commission Act were David Stupich, the Minister of Agriculture, and Robert Williams, the Minister of Lands and Forests. Harold Steves was a backbencher who may have voted for the legislation, but he neither participated in the design of the act nor did he help to lead the floor strategy to get it passed in spite of violent opposition from the Social Credit Party and its contingent of Fraser and Okanagan Valley MLAs.
As to farmers losing "water rights", I have to agree that I don't know how this can happen. Perhaps these farmers had no legally authorized permits and were just casually using the water on a stream that had no competing users. Perhaps they were on some kind of year-to-year rental system and have now been displaced by a higher bidder.
Either way, the notion of a farmer with presumptively permanent water rights being pushed aside by a new applicant doesn't play in BC anymore than in Peioria. It may be a mistaken public policy if the farmer is contributing to provincial GDP more than the IPP would, but it's not going to be a case of one user's permit of many years'standing being cancelled to make way for another user's ambitions.
Luke Skywalker
4 years ago
Quote:Currently there is NO
That's actually a good idea! Now whether this 1960's storage dam design will permit the installation of a powerhouse, turbines, and penstock is a technical question that I'm not familiar with.
BC Hydro was just granted an environmental certificate last June, 2007 for a fifth generating unit, after 12 years at the EAO, which will provide another 500Mw. The Revelstoke dam was also designed for a sixth generating unit, but I don't see any application for that additional power at the EAO.
BC Hydro's existing dam/transmission infrastructure is also approaching a mid-life crisis with turbines being replaced at the WAC Bennett dam, for instance, and an estimated $4 billion is required to bring the aging transmission/transformer system up to acceptable standards.
As for ROTR, wind, and geothermal IPP's, they also have to go through the same hoops at the EAO just as BC Hydro did for 12 years regarding the additional turbine at the Revelstoke dam.
http://www.eao.gov.bc.ca/epic/output/html/deploy/epic_project_index_report.html
happy
4 years ago
what am I missing?
A portion of the water is diverted through the generator, then returned to the river in full downstream. I repeat, in full. How could that possibly affect farmers in the valleys. There is zero reduction in the water flow
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
Luke
Luke Skywalker:
The BC Liberals have not allowed BC Hydro to develop new power sources (except the proposed Site C).
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
villager: Quote:People's
villager:
Wow. That's a pretty ridiculous thing to write. I recommend reading this:
http://thetyee.ca/Views/2006/10/30/BCHydro/
So unless you steal your hydro, or are an investor in one of these private power companies, you too should be concerned.
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
happy: Quote:A portion of
happy:
I'm not sure, but I imagine that if water for irrigation (which is obviously not returned to the river) is removed upstream of the power facility it would have an impact on the volume of water flowing past the facility (and thus impact how much energy it can generate).
happy
4 years ago
Mr _laroux
That makes no sense jimmy. From the article:
"Steves says he hears from farmers who are concerned about not having enough water to irrigate crops."
"I've got farmers contacting me saying that they're losing water rights," he says.
I repeat again: where is this so called loss of farmers water rights? How are the farmers losing water to the ROTR facilities?
zalm
4 years ago
solar
I wish $1000 would buy me a solar circuit for my house - I've got the perfect south-facing exposed roof. But $1000 won't even buy the power inverter for a 1500W (1 circuit) power supply to get the power to my house, never mind the cells or the storage or the....
Last time I checked, costs were closer to $6500 for a single circuit.
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
happy: Sorry, I realise I
happy:
Sorry, I realise I wasn't so clear. A "run of the river" power producer is interested in maximising the volume of water flowing past its facility. A farmer upstream irrigating their crops reduces that volume of water. I have no idea about the political/bureaucratic processes involved in securing or removing rights to water from a river, but it seems to me that the interests of the farmer and the interests of the producer are in conflict, and one party could try to block or reduce the other's access. Maybe some ROTR power producers are guaranteed sole rights to the water? I'm just guessing. The article doesn't explicitly say how this is happening or could happen.
Luke Skywalker
4 years ago
Quote:A "run of the river"
One problem with that hypothesis though. ROTR projects are typically located in steep mountainous terrain, whereby there could not be any arable land "upstream".
In other words, most, if not all, of BC's arable land is in valley basins... "downstream" from where any ROTR project would be situate.
happy
4 years ago
thats the point
Thats what I was getting at, as Luke points out. The energy is extracted from the water and its dumped back into the normal river run. The farmers get as much as they always did, not one drop less. Why people are upset about that is beyond me. If this was a NDP initiative being built and employed solely by BC Hydro everybody would be falling over themselves claiming what a fantastic good idea it is. Be honest
kootcoot
4 years ago
Destruction by any name (SCAM)
Villager, do you actually pay any attention to anything other than your imagination?
When two large creeks that have supported spawning kokanee, trout and bull trout become dry creek beds during spawning season, rendering them inaccessible to spawning fish, I would call that devastation.
When previous pristine (with some logging a sustainable and renewable form of resource extraction if performed correctly) countryside is piled up with 50,000 tamdem truckloads of rock and muck, that ain't burying a poop in the woods.
When ninety kilometers of pristine wilderness is disrupted with a long narrow clearcut and roads to build and maintain an un-necessary long distance transmission line to move power AWAY from the existing grid, that is wasteful.
Acquaint yourself with some FACTS before you render your judgement about what is "green." And I guess you were so busy ignoring anything anyone might contribute that you didn't even notice that it is the SCAM, Enron nature of the business model of the whole 500+ IPPs that have already been proposed that is worse than even the evironmental losses. It makes no sense for British Columbians unless you share the privatization (or fire sale dispersal of the common assets of BC) ideology of the Campbell Gang.
G West
4 years ago
I doubt it happy
These projects are just another part of this government's pathetic and thoroughgoing effort to sell off all BC's public assets to the highest bidder.
btw, I happened to have the misfortune of being at the mercy of David Hahn for a couple of voyages at the weekend; things are definitely on the steep decline with that former crown corporation. It hardly seems possible Campbell could have done so much to ruin this province in 7 short years...
You might want to remember there's a lot of this:
http://calsun.canoe.ca/Business/2008/02/14/4846173-sun.html
kind of thing going on in the R~O~R biz too.
As for agricultural issues, I think you need to look again at differing seasons, power needs and peak flow requirements in the two industries.
I'm not surprised to see you agree with Luke Skywalker - somebody pretty much outed 'him' or 'her' the other day as a media monitor...
kootcoot
4 years ago
What Happy is Missing
What you are missing in the case of Glacier/Howser is that the one creek is diverted through a mountain 16 km to the north and then the combined flows go into a penstock which flows through turbines near the creek mouth. Meanwhile the creeks are virtually dry as the flows of both are diverted. Hardly Run of the River, really.
I'm not familiar with every IPP in the province and as I have explained above it is the privatization/commoditizing of water flows that I am really opposed to. It is just another assault on our ability to be in control of our own destiny through so called "Free Trade" or what is in America's interests policies. Interestingly even the Mexicans were too smart to sign over their own rights over their own energy resources like the Canadians with The Evil Jaw in charge.
happy
4 years ago
For the last time
How are farmers being short changed? That was the only item I commented on. If anyone wants to answer that, and only that, please do so.
Luke Skywalker
4 years ago
Quote:[posted by G West] I'm
Moderators, could you confirm if this "G West" moniker also has the same IP address as "lynn"????
Someone in a much earlier thread had already stated the same, and the statements of "lynn" are the same linguistic statements of "G West" in previous threads.
It's almost akin to leavin' fingerprints at a crime scene.
Too much of a childish kindergarten atmosphere around here with the same posters acting under different pseudonyms... lol
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
G West: What's a "media
G West:
What's a "media monitor"?
Yeoman
4 years ago
Are they really efficient?
A few things never get mentioned in this debate:
1. Generation is limited to high flow times such as October to June when North America wide demand is low.
2. The stability (eg debris torrents) of most of the locations is dubious at best. If a flood event happens, there goes the winter's energy.
3. Turbine blade erosion in such applications is significant.
4. The whole industry is one big TSX stock play.
5. "Green energy" is predicted to be the next bubble (check out iTulip.com)
G West
4 years ago
A media monitor
Is a member of the Public Affairs Bureau - approximately 200 OIC appointees of the provincial government. Among their duties is keeping track of what goes on in all kinds of media outlets here in the Province.
Gordon likes to be 'really' up to date. Members of the bureau have also been known to phone talk shows, write letters to the editor and sometimes even impersonate certain individuals.
One of them, Stuart Chase by name, was busy reporting twice daily on events in the Basi Virk trial last spring...he sent his reports from the offices of the Tourism ministry in Vancouver as I recall. In fact, one of the accused in that case was an OIC appointment as well - his name is Aneal Basi.
Let me know if you'd like further information.
I can even provide you with a list of all the appointees under OIC 656.
If you'd like to learn a little more about G West, Luke, - you can check the comments on this thread - with my blessings:
http://thetyee.ca/Views/Teacherdiaries/2007/02/27/BoyTrouble/
Thanks for bringing it up.
And, you're right, Lynn gets all the credit for sensing the possibility the other day.
I'd say I'm just concurring with her excellent judgment.
woody
4 years ago
Luke Skywalker
Of course they sound similar, that's sister, Lynn West, You must be fairly new to this site, eh?
Luke Skywalker
4 years ago
Quote:And, you're right,
I'd say I'm just concurring with her excellent judgment.
Ahhhhhhh... It's good to see that you will have no problem with the Moderators finally confirming that your IP address and that of "lynn" are one and the same!
BC Mary
4 years ago
What's a Media Monitor?, you ask?
Jimmy,
Good grief, does G have to explain everything? Don't you read the news?
Media Monitors are to be found in great numbers on the payroll of the British Columbia government to monitor (like it says) the media (like it says) to tweak the party line. They leap into action, as if they were private citizens, and say such things as "Unions ba-a-ad", "Gordon Campbell gooood", "public ownership ba-a-ad" on web-sites as well as phone-in radio shows and the like.
It's like picking mushrooms. Once you see one, you can see them all over the place. Then you're supposed to start thinking that's how "the people" feel about things. Pretty clever, eh? But not exactly Free Enterprise, would you say?
There's an amusing wire-tap of the former Minister of Finance Gary Collins and his trusted aide Dave Basi discussing how they tweaked the Mayor of Squamish on a radio phone in show. They did rather well, they told themselves, without a hint of embarrassment. You can read the transcript right here on The Tyee.
OK?
G West
4 years ago
I take absolutely no credit
For anything Lynn posts. Check our IPs till your heart is content Luke Skywalker - you'll find out that we are NOT the same person. I post as G West and G West only.
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
Alright, BC Mary, just chill.
Alright, BC Mary, just chill.
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
Luke Skywalker, are you a
Luke Skywalker, are you a media monitor? Are you a paid media monitor?
Also, you stated above that the Site C dam "will likely result in greater environmental degradation than these run-of-the-river ("ROTR") projects combined." Do you have a source for this?
ME2
4 years ago
It's the same old game
Someone above referred to the manipulations by the Campbell cronies in the power market as akin to the goings-on through which Enron bilked American electricity users of billons before they got caught.
So what did you expect? One of the very first things upon taking power in 2001 was his giving charge of BC Hydro and our entire distribution system to Accenture, which advertises itself as a consultant to both gov'ts and industry in the various fields in power distribution.
Which makes sense, since the four men who formed Accenture were once senior advisors in Arthur Anderson & Co, the accounting firm which cooked the books for Enron, and which was forced out of business in 2002.
Who better to guide Campbell through the hoops in his program of handing BC's Hydro production over to the Multinational Corporations?
kootcoot
4 years ago
Luke, I am your Father!
Jeepers, Creepers, that Luke guy has busted us all. I'll just come out and admit that Lynn, GW, BC Mary, Fiat Lux and myself, plus a few of our "friends" all live in my mom's basement and share one dial-up IP address and KG Macaroni and Cheese sent down by my mom.
Just can't fool them "professional" media monitors hired by Gordo the Great, can you?
Unfortunately people like you, my son Luke, while trying to accuse concerned individuals of some kind of mis-representation, either fail to see or fail to admit, that it is the Gordon Campbell Lieberal government that uses OUR own tax money to fund vast mis-information campaigns such as the example described above by BC Mary involving the ferret, the accused felon and the Mayor of Squamish.
BC Mary
4 years ago
Another Media Monitor. Only 198 to go ...
To: Jimmy_Laroux,
Hey. Who the heck are you barking orders at?
Yep, sounds like another voice of authority to me.
So ... we got you too, eh Jimmy? OK, here's coming right back atcha:
Go jump in the lake. Stay. Chill.
[PS. All is forgiven if you'll let us in on the time and place where secret training sessions for Media Monitoring is taught. Especially the ones where people learn to talk like somebody else. For today, I'll take the Carole Taylor sound. Deal? What do you mean, we're not eligible?]
kootcoot
4 years ago
All Praise Accenture
ME2 is pretty bang on with his short sketch of the illegitimate spawn of the shamed out of existence Anderson Accounting.
Accenture is into much more than just power distribution (except in California)- like being the go to firm when Mike Harris "oursourced" welfare in Ontario. Not only was the provision of services MUCH more expensive, but the service was also measurably inferior, in spite of the ideological purity of the idea.
For more interesting background on Accenture, see Reason for Revolution from September 18, 2006 in Vive le Canada. Particularly interesting are the Accenture PR person's attempt to "correct" Robin's facts and his response which follow in the comments below the aricle.
I could be wrong (about which company) Ontario outsourced it's Welfare System to, but the results are a matter of record. Stephen Harper, Gordon Campbell or any other neo-cons think, perhaps correctly, that facts are unimportant compared to the perception which is easier to manipulate than actual performance. People who don't believe in government have no business governing.
Ronald Pagan
4 years ago
We need to get our energy
We need to get our energy from somewhere.
Where would rather get it from, coal burning plants in Washington and Alberta or rivers in BC?
Too many people want their cake.
kootcoot
4 years ago
How Can So Many Miss the Point
Ronald Pagan etc.
I don't recall anyone saying that using water (HYDRO) to generate power was in itself evil or evironmentally the worst option. What I question is the wholesale giveaway of what up until the ascension of Gordon Campbell were resources OWNED in common by the people of our fair province.
Certainly certain IPP projects also are "green" in the Orwellian sense only or in the "cash flow" to Coporate Interests.
But selling the furniture to foreigners to pay the rent or line the pockets of corporate cronies is WRONG, evironmentally sound or not!!!
Interestingly, a neighboring village, mayor and council, looked into developing alternative stream based back-up power, to insure being able to operate the pumping station etc. during power outages, like we experienced this summer due to fires. Low and behold the committee researching the issue came back to council with the new information that NONE of the local streams were available, as they had all been auctioned off (none to local interests). Of course no one locally knew they were even available until they were already sold, including local council and regional representatives. Even my small village could afford the $5000 or so license fee for a local stream of the size necessary.
Luke Skywalker
4 years ago
Quote:Luke Skywalker, are
Yup I'm both Kevin Falcon and a media monitor! So there ya go. BTW... I'm gonna go out and rent that movie "Dumb and Dumber" tonight. lol
kootcoot
4 years ago
Why stop at the comparative!
Kevin, I'm surprised that the Transportation Minister has to have a second job, but hey, it's difficult raising a family and paying the bills in Campbell's paradise.
While we're doing adjective degree exercises, why stop with just the comparative form? Why not use the superlative as well?
Dumb and Dumber AND Dumbest
(Dumbest - that's the guy watching the movie)
Budd Campbell
4 years ago
PINCONE - BURKE MTN PARK BOUNDARIES
The project proposal includes building a 43-kilometre transmission line that would cross the northern and southern tips of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park
If built it will be the second electric transmission line in this park. When the park was created, the southern boundary was drawn so as to included the main transmission line bringing power from the North and the Interior to Greater Vancouver. Also included is a large gravel quarry.
lynn
4 years ago
The privatization of the natural world
This is just the BCLiberals' privatization of BC Hydro being deviously.... and cowardly hid behind a trendily pathetic PR mask of green.
As kootcoot notes, it's exactly the same old privatization scam we've seen many times before. First take a gem of a public asset and disable it ( through lack of funding etc., through a 990 year "lease" as in BC Rail, or in this case by legislating away all the power rights of BC Hydro.). Presto! the once powerful public energy giant is perceived as and turned into a weak-kneed eunuch so that those greenback droolin' private power companies can ride into town, buy up the power rights real cheap, reap the gargantuan profits for themselves, all the while posing as green saviors coming to the public's rescue. .
There is much green moolah to be made by these private companies and they know it and they can't hurry it all along fast enough....hoping it all hums along under the green guise/radar of a sleeping public.
The one up Toba Inlet is running twelve-hour work shifts, round the clock. 24/7. We have friends north of Kamloops that manage a motel - their motel is fully booked for the next year by those about to work on developing the IPP near by.
This is the new gold rush, you can feel the fever, the private power fever for easy profit - for which we, the public, will pay and pay and pay....all because of the ruthless castration of one of BC's great public energy resources, BC Hydro.
One important fact to note: the environmental assessment process is not applied to projects under 50 Megawatts in size, resulting in many IPPs being built at 49 megawatts to avoid even minimal scrutiny.
So when as this article says:
Note that 161 megawatts is on eight tributaries. Divide and do the math. Those tributaries under 50 megawatts escape the environmental assessment process, so when it comes to megawatts 49 is the magic number....to free a project from environmental oversight.
(Go the Council of Canadians web-site for more info. If you get a chance view the DVD "49 Megawatts".)
"The BC public will have to bear much higher costs as a result of these private power operators. IPP operators sign 20-40 year contracts with BC Hydro, locking us in to pay IPP power rates significantly above BC Hydro's current costs. Once these contracts run out, the private operator can sell electricity to the highest bidder, which could result in BC bidding against California for power produced by our own rivers and streams."
Ya think that's why American companies like GE have invested millions of dollars into IPP's like the Plutonic Power Toba River site?
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
Luke Skywalker: Sorry, I
Luke Skywalker:
Sorry, I had to ask :)
kootcoot
4 years ago
Numbers!
Current average cost of power purchased or produced by BC Hydro currently = $1.08 per megawatt hourBC assumed debt for future power under IPP agreements $16 Billion
Average cost for IPP Power = $87.00 per megawatt hour (from signed agreements to date, payable upon the IPPs coming online and delivering power.
Royalty rates will be in the 4%-5% range )not the 1% range I stated earlier, above.
Try to explain to me how that will translate into the 25% -30% increase in cost to users in BC, that is being bandied about in the PR "softening up" process currently underway in the Lamestream Media.
If you have different numbers, please share them - however making them up don't count.
The numbers above were on BC Hydro's own website.....though I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't there anymore - I mean they seem kind of embarrassing, don't they?
jimmy_laroux
4 years ago
Yeah BC Mary, whatever. I
Yeah BC Mary, whatever. I asked a simple question because I was genuinely curious, to which G West responded politely. For some reason you thought it would be worthwhile to follow G West's post with a needlessly offensive one, then today with a second, even more stupid, even more unnecessary one. Well done.
kootcoot
4 years ago
Reading Recommendation
I would recommend that people who are concerned about this sell off of our assets go back to the Tyee article by Professor Calvert from October 30, 2006. Amazingly some of the same people who now think the IPPs are such a good and green idea were able to understand what is really going on behind the curtain then. Maybe it is a sign that the manufactured energy "crisis" etc. campaign being waged by the government with the help of their media lackeys is working.
Doctor Calvert explains very clearly what is wrong with this program, and nothing has changed since then, everything he pointed out then is just as true today, if not more so.
See BC Hydro's Amazingly Bad Deal for Ratepayers
I would also suggest to the Tyee that they remove the http:// in the link blank generated with the tool above this text box. Most people copy and paste the links in and they already have that part in the added link, repeating that twice in the link is what makes so many of the URLs on this board malformed and thus non-functioning. I know one can just edit it and remove one or the other, but WHY bother? Everybody who participates on these boards isn't fluent in HTML.
kootcoot
4 years ago
Correction
I accidentally provided the link for this very same article. The correct link is:
Bad Deal for BC
Sorry 'bout that.
Peter Dimitrov
4 years ago
Re: Rates Increases
Kootcoot you ask:
Try to explain to me how that will translate into the 25% -30% increase in cost to users in BC, that is being bandied about in the PR "softening up" process currently underway in the Lamestream Media.
That is a pretty tough question to answer because the general public is kept in the dark. But, I think, Campbell' s plan is to continue to offer to very low cost electrical rates to heavy industrial and big commercial users - namely continued access to Heritage power (Peace & Columbia) rates, while shifting higher costs onto the residential and small commercial sector, a new rate structure that dilutes or offsets the high rates of private energy by 'blending' it with the Heritage power rates. That therefore, is another subsidy to IPP private energy, and causes a further dilution in the value of the public's ownership of the Columbia & Peace system. Another subsidy to private power, which also dilutes the asset value of the firm power produced by public dams on the Columbia and Peace, would be if the the private energy companies are allowed to use the dams to 'convert' their non-firm power into firm power - which is a more valuable commodity. Either way you look at it, the commons has been stolen by the goose which has produced so much 'gold' for BC over the past 50 plus years. Indeed as Lynn says so accurately "t's exactly the same old privatization scam we've seen many times before." What is going on is exactly how Argentina was destroyed by the neo-liberal agenda....see the DVD "Social Genocide". There are solutions to this 'taking' -which many, including myself, have been articulating over the years. Otherwise, British Columbia will but be a 'hollowed' empty shell of a province with a much poorer, emasculated people, with more conflicts and violence, far greater inequality and exclusion, and the majority of ordinary folks and their children and grandchildren, poor tenants in their own land, paying ransom fees to the corporate owners. As I see it, before we can design a range of 'solutions', we neeed not just reportage and reaction to what is happening, but analysis of how and why it is the way it is.
Peter Dimitrov
4 years ago
continued....
We need, as my favourite author, Paulo Freire says, greater "Conscientization". Focusing first on our own lives we might ask: what and why are the things going wrong in my/your own life? Why are average people so powerless? Who has the power? Do those who decide have my interests at heart, or the interests of a small majority? What is the position of those who are indigenous peoples, women, single mothers, single fathers, students, seniors, the poor and working poor, etc. Who are the rich and powerful, how did they get that way? If we elect a new government, how can we be sure that they won't make the situation worse, or do things that don't reflect my and others interests? Does representative democracy really work in this province? How do the existing political institutions and 'habits' and the mass media contribute to what is going on now, and the trend line into the future? Where and how can I meet with others to share and listen to their concerns, both on the internt, but also in real time? As I see it, and correct me if I am wrong, conscientization - not just information - is the basis by which we transform ourselves and actualize more of our human potentials ...so that we can move to the second step, which is to form new political organizations and political institutions that better reflect who we are as humans who have actualized more or our potentials and who have achieved greater conscientization. For this process I am very grateful to the Tyee and David Beers and all the other authors and contributors on this site, and the differences in opinion provides the necessary 'tension', the necessary 'fire' for that conscientization process.
Peter Dimitrov
4 years ago
a typo
should read
"the commons has been stolen from the goose which has produced so much 'gold' for BC over the past 50 plus years.
AM
4 years ago
Water licenses: How come so cheap?
Water licences for these private power producers only cost $5,000 each and can be renewed in perpetuity. How come they're so cheap?
Run of River Inc. makes:
Brandywine Creek: $2M per year
Mamquam Projects: $10M per year
Upper Pitt River: $43M per year(estimated)
AM
4 years ago
Water rental: How come so cheap?
Annual water rental rates for water licenses is only $200 per year. How come so cheap?
Run of River Inc. makes:
Brandywine Creek: $2M per year
Mamquam Projects: $10M per year
Upper Pitt River: $43M per year(estimated)
HawkEyes
4 years ago
Nothing is SACRED
We get our water from a creek. Creeks for drinking water are under different legislation, having more rights than non drinking creeks?
When we moved here, the family got sick pdq. It took some time to realize, sadly, our water was not fit for consumption.
Cows were on the creek, but don’t complain, because they’ll tell you bears are worse. Cows and bears being a double whammy seemed too large a concept...
The creek runs under the main road up here before we get our water, inches from broken asphalt and I have never seen the municipality exercise caution when grading, plowing or spreading their chemical mixes for snow and gravel (before the road was paved). Some wonder IF the water is why there is a cancer common up here.
Then the municipality approved for Canada Post to place mail boxes right beside the creek. Hills are hard on vehicles...permanent oil leaks and toxic drips are not uncommon. It took months of calling back and forth from the municipality to Canada Post for nothing to happen. One day I talked bluntly to someone Provincial in Surrey and the box was moved the next day.
People up here have water shortages, with seasonal wells or rock preventing further drilling…yet two large houses and two pools were constructed on the creek, with an associated third house and pool constructed almost next door. We found out their wells were concrete holding tanks, dug out right beside the creek to catch the water. The water quality suffered. (We still use this water to brush our teeth, wash salad, for the poor dog, etc.) Again, to the phone. How are these “wells” and how did they get approved? I pestered the provincial people responsible for drinking water creeks until I was finally told by THE lady that she did a drive by and saw nothing. I finally "got" "it".
Just as "protect our groundwater" is an empty mantra, don't expect protection, even if legislated, for any creek, especially if there are no witnesses and greed is involved.
...Taylor should have worn black.
lynn
4 years ago
Stealing the Commons under a phony cloak of green
Good questions AM.
As you note, for a very small investment, wow!....look at the money to be made. (And as Peter's comment accentuates, many questions swirl in the "convenient" dark - around private access to our power infrastructure eg use of dams, transmission lines, mingling of power rates etc.)
That's why humming under the public radar, the Great Gold/Power Rush is on... the mad dash and flurry to buy up BC's "priceless" rivers is being done with great stealth, under a phony green label, hoping the public won't "catch on" in time.
And I agree, very deserving thanks to The Tyee and their reporters for the light they have shone on this issue.
AM
4 years ago
We pay IPPs $100/MWh, but BC Hydro's cost is only $6/MWh: Why?
How come we are forced to buy power from IPPs at $100/MWh, but it only costs BC Hydro $6/MWh to produce the same? Is that why our rates are increasing so much?
Why do we rate payers pay such a high premium to private power producers for their lower grade intermittent power, when BC Hydro can produce superior firm power for almost 20X less?
G West
4 years ago
Because AM
That's the way our CEO premier, Gordon Campbell wants it - so he can use every possible expedient to sell out the public's assets to his friends in business and help them turn a profit.
You might want to look at Brian Mulroney's record for doing much the same thing while he was Prime Minister.
These people have no shame, they rob the commons and pretend that they're heroes.
Somehow Campbell must be stopped while there is still something left for the citizens he pretends to care about. Every opposition member should turn and face the wall whenever he speaks in the Legislature - for he has become a shameful spectacle in that place.
This is a man whose minister of transporation is incapable of anything more intelligent than 'boo hoo'.
It's time to wake up and start pushing back - we should be demonstrating in the streets every time the man deigns to appear in public.
Not with cans of paint, but with signs and placards and tough, pointed statements.
happy
4 years ago
No answers huh
From 4 days ago...
"How are farmers being short changed? That was the only item I commented on. If anyone wants to answer that, and only that, please do so."
BTW west, why do you keep bringing up ferries? Take it easy, the TSB report is due out any day now and then there will be lots of ferry talk - but not here I bet