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Firm winning $73 million contract is connected to BC Hydro director, has close ties with Libs.
Smart meters: But who's metering the money?
BC Hydro is preparing to roll out smart meters in every home. The tech industry is ready to jump on board, but are government and citizens prepared?
The US is investing billions in a wired feedback loop telling consumers how to be electricity misers. A BC firm is on the cutting edge.
British Columbians frustrated by a looming 50 per cent increase in their monthly power bills probably will feel no happier knowing that BC Hydro intends to spend much of its newfound revenues on a $1 billion Smart Metering Program to monitor every consumed kilowatt.
Well, here's something that will make ratepayers feel even worse.
The very first smart meter contract BC Hydro has awarded -- $73 million to install up to 1.8 million of the new devices -- went to a company with close ties to the BC Liberals. Indeed, that company is directly connected to a BC Hydro director.
The troubling trail of interlocking relationships starts with Tracey McVicar. She was named to the Crown corporation's board of directors a little over three years ago.
While in her early twenties, in 1990, McVicar earned a bachelor's degree in finance from UBC and quickly went to work in the investment banking division at RBC Dominion Securities.
Not long after, she left to join a Vancouver-based brokerage, Goepel, Shields and Partners. By 1997, she had become a partner at the firm and a member of its board of directors.
Goepel, Shields and Partners was bought in 2001 by Raymond James Financial Ltd., the Florida-headquartered financial services behemoth, and two years later McVicar left to head up the Vancouver office of CAI Capital Management Ltd.
David Emerson 'a longstanding investor'
CAI is a central link in this chain, as we shall see, so here's a backgrounder.
A private firm that raises funds from select investors, CAI then uses that capital in a variety of ways, but usually by taking equity positions in mid-size companies with the expectation of outsized returns on their initial investment.
CAI was founded in 1989 by seven well-heeled investors, including a couple of ex-Salomon Brothers partners in New York, plus a prominent Montreal businessman, David Culver, a former CEO with Alcan Aluminum Ltd.
In 1999, CAI bought a position in a well-known but under-capitalized B.C. entity, MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. The investment firm obtained at least one seat on the MDA board, and it was filled by Brooklyn-based Peter Restler, a founding CAI partner.
Restler has had a several decades long relationship with B.C. politicians and well-heeled British Columbians. One such prominent Vancouver businessman is Peter Bentley, the long-time head of Canfor Corporation, who was an early investor in CAI.
In August 2001, David Emerson, then CEO at Bentley's Canfor, joined the MacDonald Dettwiler board.
And if Emerson was not already an investor in CAI's exclusive funds, he soon became one.
That information was disclosed on Nov. 24, 2008, when it was announced that Emerson -- who just weeks earlier had quit federal politics rather than seek re-election as a Conservative MP in Vancouver East -- had been hired (see here and here) by Restler, McVicar and CAI as a "senior advisor" at the equity firm's Vancouver office.
Posted on CAI's website is a wire story that features the following sentence: "Emerson has also been a longstanding investor in CAI, said Tracey McVicar, a managing director of CAI, who declined to elaborate on the timing and amount of his investments."
Emerson's string of appointments
The very next day, David Emerson was the subject of another big announcement. A mere 24 hours after CAI declared that the former federal cabinet minister had been retained as an advisor, the BC Liberal government issued a news release stating that Emerson would be the new executive chair at the BC Transmission Corporation, a former piece of BC Hydro spun out by the BC Liberals in 2004 (and recently restored).
Just two weeks after Emerson was placed atop BC Transmission, the BC Liberals added yet another item to his growing list of duties: chair of the premier's Economic Advisory Council, tasked with helping the government address the global financial meltdown.
(Appointments and assignments have continued to rain down on the former Vancouver East MP. In July 2010, for example, he was named to the board at Postmedia Network Inc., owner of many B.C. dailies, including the Vancouver Sun, The Province and the Times Colonist.)
McVicar's excellent connections
Tracey McVicar's resume speaks of a person exceptionally bright and with a big heart. In the summer of 2001, for example, she volunteered to work for a couple of months with disadvantaged children in Mott Haven, said to be the poorest neighbourhood in New York's South Bronx.
Back here in B.C., McVicar has served on numerous charitable boards, including those of the Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital Foundation, and raised funds for such worthwhile initiatives as the Sauder School's Opening Worlds Campaign.
But charity work alone doesn't explain how McVicar came to the attention of the BC Liberals and sufficiently impressed them so as to obtain, in December 2007, a gig with the board of directors at BC Hydro. That posting is, after all, the most prestigious board appointment the province can bestow.
McVicar clearly is extremely well connected. She is friends with Susan Yurkovich, long-time BC Liberal crony. Over the last several years, McVicar and Yurkovich have served together on the board of the VGH-UBC Hospital Foundation.
Political insiders know that Yurkovich's career includes a stint at Canfor Corp., where she worked with David Emerson until the latter's departure in 2004. Two years later, after working on the BC Liberals' 2005 re-election campaign, she was hired by BC Hydro to push the Site C project. (In 2009/10, her take-home pay for BC Hydro work was $368,000.)
McVicar has another strong tie to the BC Liberal power circle through Ruston E.T. "Rusty" Goepel, her former boss at Goepel, Shields and Partners (and for a time at Raymond James).
A big BC Liberal financial donor, Goepel in October 2009 was named chair of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC). There he worked alongside two current top dogs at BC Hydro -- its already appointed chair, Dan Doyle, and its eventual president and CEO, David Cobb.
Perhaps McVicar's most valuable connection, though, is to Larry Blain.
Remember McVicar's first job, way back in the early 90s at RBC Dominion Securities? Blain was then her boss.
Blain and the BC Liberal power circle
No stranger to controversy, Blain was recruited by the BC Liberals in 2003 to head up Partnerships BC, the government-funded and politically-charged agency that promotes public-private partnerships (P3s). (In the most recent fiscal period, 2009/10, he managed to squeak by on a taxpayer-funded salary of $478,000.)
Last summer, Blain announced that he was quitting as Partnerships BC's president and CEO, though elevating himself to the part-time chair position.
About the same time, Blain accepted yet another BC Liberal appointment. Last June he became a director of -- you guessed it -- BC Hydro and Power Authority.
BC Hydro board meetings now see Blain sitting alongside not just his old protégé Tracey McVicar, but also another friend from Partnerships BC, Dan Doyle.
For, in addition to serving as chair of BC Hydro, Doyle also is a member of the Partnerships BC board of directors.
The pay for sitting on the BC Hydro Board, if you are wondering, is not bad at all. Over a 28-month period between 2007 and 2010, for example, McVicar's compensation added up to more than $108,000.
Bid winner Corix and its well connected investors
Now to bring together these names and their intertwined connections.
Six weeks ago, on Jan. 25, 2011, BC Hydro announced the first contract for its smart-grid initiative. It went to Corix Utilities, part of the Corix Group of Companies.
Valued at $73 million, the two-year contract will see the company install as many as 1.8 million smart meters across the province.
And who owns Corix? One of the biggest shareholders -- and possibly the biggest (Corix is a private company and so is not required to disclose equity ownership) -- is none other than CAI Capital Management.
Yes, that's the same firm whose operations in Western Canada are headed by BC Hydro director Tracey McVicar, and where a BC Liberal-appointee named David Emerson -- a "longstanding investor" -- hangs his hat as "senior advisor."
So, as British Columbians prepare to face a 50 per cent hike in their monthly BC Hydro bills, it will be useful to remember that the first contract under the BC Liberal government's $1 billion smart grid initiative just happened to go to a company (Corix) owned by another (CAI) that is managed by a BC Hydro director (Tracy McVicar), and advised by a BC Liberal confidante (David Emerson).
All of this information won't make BC Hydro ratepayers feel any better as they brace for much higher power charges. But it might help to explain where much of their money is going to end up.
(More in subsequent columns.) ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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different drummer
2 years ago
Lib's Energy Policy a Big Concern
Of all the things the Libs have done wrong, their energy/resource policies top the list for me. It's one of the main reasons that I support John Horgan for BC NDP leader - if anyone can fix the mess we're in, it's him.
As for Smart Meters, in principle they may well be a good thing, but certainly not under the circumstances outlined in the article.
slowthinker
2 years ago
smart meter
We need a smart meter to tell us we use electricity at night?
slowthinker
2 years ago
dumb meter
http://jimquail.com/2010/07/22/dumb-meters-how-gordon-campbell-wants-you-to-waste-a-billion-dollars/
http://jimquail.com/2011/01/25/bc-hydro-dumb-meters-update/
Ricky
2 years ago
Just the Beginning
"The stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast"
The rip-off meters, which already are known from California and even here as a suspected and confirmed overbilling vehicle, will be installed on our dime. Then, down the road, when people are good and angry with rate increases, it will be perfect timing for a BC Rail type sell off to, say, GE, which, by the way, has contributed mightily to the BC Liberals as of late.
Just conjecture, of course.
Still, guys like Emerson, Campbell, etc, must think that BCers are dumber than Jack Abramoff thought the tribes were down south.
manuel
2 years ago
BC Hydro corruption
Thank you again for your great research and article. It is very sad to see the apathy among the young people who are having their future stolen from them by a few crooked politicians EDITED FOR LEGAL CONCERNS - MODERATOR
off-the-radar
2 years ago
great article
excellent article, Will. Sad that this is only one of hundreds of examples.
And unbelievable that as our province is being sold out from underneath our feet, citizens are being further screwed over with higher costs and reduced services. WAC must be spinning in his grave, his legacy destroyed.
rantnic
2 years ago
Two Billion
That's a lot of debt even for B.C.Hydro even under the most excellent stewardship of the liberals. I guess we will just have to sell our debt ridden Hydro to GM, who's CEO makes over 85 million a year. The debt is, as directed by the provincial government,against the wishes of most B.C.Hydro board members. Double your bill or sell! The choice will be yours,and the popular vote goes to..... wait for it....it goes to... "SELL"
Grumpy
2 years ago
Liberal insiders make huge profits?
Gosh, golly gee whiz, isn't that the BC Liberal/Gordon Campbell political mantra from the very beginning.
Nothing is done in BC for the benefit of the people, but everything is done to benefit Liberal insiders and cronies.
Screw the taxpayer and tax and spend, that is the Liberal/Conservative motto for years!
loriw
2 years ago
Thanks
I wish I were more surprised. Thanks for the excellent article
Dukeboy
2 years ago
BC Hydro and the IPPs
And if you look at the people involved in the IPPs. mostly Campbell's cronies and the same pattern emerges. THe water licenses and the river leases have mostly gone to the same executives and cronies (mostly appointees) that worked at the agencies related to Campbell's government. IT is old boy corruption at5 it's worst with the taxpayer dollars to make them rich!!THAT Is what it is all about. The people of this province are being taken to the cleaners, slowly but surely!
freebear
2 years ago
Organized Back Scratching!
Lining their nests while in government; setting up their buddies; waiting to be appointed; secure in their MLA pensions @#$^@!
Sheesh!
LeftSeater
2 years ago
It will be interesting....
.... to see if there is going to be a per month charge for the "smart meters" like there is in Ontario. The charge is around $3.99 (+HST) per month and is to be added to the "delivery charge" portion of the bill.
If one looks at the breakdown of charges tacked onto a Ontario Hydro bill, the charge for electricity use is less than the other assorted add-ones such as;
Delivery Charges
Regulatory Charges
the Debt Retirement Charge
Global Adjustment (if applicable)
Provincial Benefit (which goes to paying some of those subsidized green power initiatives)
and of course, everyone's favorite --- the HST.
I'm also curious to see if smart meter providers will also receive a portion of the monthly smart meter charge if that is implemented (after all we have to keep up with Ontario as per the HST).
Terrys_Hot
2 years ago
The old
The old saying comes in better and better every time you hear it don't steal the government doesn't want competition..BC Hydro are so afraid of the public seeing what is going on that they have security around most of their holdings correction or holds supposedly. The biggest mistake in all of our thinking was too have a dictator named Gordon Campbell for preimer all he has done is make the rich richer and the middle and poor class poorer. Maybe not in our life times but what is going on in Libya could possible start in BC and continue right across Canada people are really getting fed up with the government. BC Hydro right now are up grading all of there sub-stations.
mopled
2 years ago
As if that weren't bad enough,
the real reason for "smart meters" seems to be so they can cut us off whenever they want giving "freezing in the dark" a new meaning.
Thing have progressed so far in the UK that “The Era Of Constant Electricity At Home Is Ending”, National Grid Chief
"British families have been told the shocking truth about the price of green energy. They must prepare to go without electricity for extended periods, warns UK’s top electricity boss.
Steve Holliday, National Grid’s chief executive issued a stark warning over the consequences of the UK ‘going green’ speaking to listeners to Radio 4’s Today program.
The shock admission was immediately picked up in the Daily Telegraph (March 2, 2011) in the article, ‘Era of constant electricity at home is ending, says power chief.’
Britain’s largest energy supplier, National Grid is one of the most lucrative privatised monopolies in the world. It dealt the cold realities to a nation already committed to spending £18 billion per year on unnecessary and unpopular ‘green’ taxes. "
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/03/04/the-empire-strikes-out/
Ain't Globalization fun?
freebear
2 years ago
Is the 'smart' meter able to work with feed in tariff
If I generate my own electricity and sell to BC Hydro (feed in tariff) will it work using the 'smart' meter?
If not, then it is a 'stupid' meter, because as the price of electricity rises in the (near) future), more households will try and generate their own electricity to reduce their electric bill.
BC Hydro better check them so-called 'smart' meters to ensure it is not the dumbest move yet!
Lolo Fleet
2 years ago
something missing
Incredible detail in this report, but you did not mention how the contract was awarded to Corex. Was it a public tender, invitation only tender,or negotiated behind closed doors? This is very material to the story.
Noggy
2 years ago
failed relationships
I asked a friend for advice about a failed marriage and whether I should return to my wife after a seperation. His words were plain, simple and to the point.
"I guess you haven't had enough yet".
GHS
2 years ago
Alternate Thinking
No surprise||| I smelled this one right from the beginning. With the B.C. taxpayers supporting three major universities in this province, why can't the goverment use a billion dollars to tap their expertise to create alternate renewable energy sources. This includes geothermal to create electricity, heat and steam , and also useing the oceans tides <24-7>. This information can be found at http://www.kyron.com/k under channelling # 094. You can take from this article for what you wish, or not. This technology could then be used to benefit the planet, and also the "inside traitors:.
seth
2 years ago
Net metering and BC renewables.
Smart meters will allow you to sell power back to the grid but you only get 5 or 6 cents a kwh in BC compared to the 13 (wind) to 84 cents (solar) Ontario is handing out. Wa state gives 64 cents for solar.
There is no point in BC spending a dime on so called renewables as the rest of the world is spending $hundreds of billions to no effect so far - too costly too intermittent.
When they have improved results, we can start building them.
With clean and green zero environmental nuclear at 2 cents a kwh there is no need for so called renewables.
Dan the socialist
2 years ago
Yet the people will never
Yet the people will never hear this on the evening 6 pm news...and like good sheep re elect the libs next time...The Liberals are corrupt to the core and they along with their partners should be held accountable
f00bar
2 years ago
Hold the conspiracy
This is a nice conspiracy theory story. But the reality is that Corix is a very highly regarded organization that has been contracted widely in North America to do just this kind of installation.
There's no one better qualified in BC (maybe even in NA) to do the job. Would you rather BC Hydro contracted some American company to do it?
crh
2 years ago
BC Hydro mismanagement
Murray Langdon interviewed CEO of BC Hydro David Cobb this morning. He wants you all to know that he feels really bad for this enormous increase, that they all thought of it before implementing it and that they have no choice as everything has to be paid for by the users these days, and not taxpayer supported.
Perhaps if Mr Cobbs were to take a salary cut of 90%, then he may just be able to sympathize with us everyday folk, instead of spewing his corporate kool-aid speak.
BC Hydro has been mismanaged into the dirt and we cannot afford to wait until an election to get rid of all this incompetence.
Peter Dimitrov
2 years ago
Corix, Cai & the BC Investment Management Corp.
Terasen Gas (previously a Crown corp called BC Gas (before a Socred Premier privatized it) used to have both gas and water infrastructures,ie. pipelines etc. The BC Utilities Commission approved the sale of Terasen to Mr. Kinder of Kinder Morgan. Mr Kinder spun the assets out, keeping the gas related infrastructure for Kinder Morgan, but offering for sale the water related infrastructure of Terasen. A company called Corix was created, Mr. E being heavily involved. Investment monies were needed by Corix to buy the water related infrastructure previously belonging to Terasen. So the BC Investment Corporation - which invests public pension money invested a very large sum of money in Corix - as did Cai -and the rest is history. Isn't it intriguing how the biggest capitalists go to the workers pension funds to fund their adventures? Indeed, Corix is profitable, doing smart meters in California and other places, and thus the BCIM Corp & the public pension money they manage makes a profit. Go tothe BCIM website and see the workers money invested in all sorts of private energy companies, P3s, etc. The silence of the public sector unions on this issue is disquieting to say the least. Change is needed. In the meantime prepare for your privacy to be invaded by Accenture's (BC Hydro) smart meters, prepare for your homes to receive yet more radio wave wireless electro-pollution. Many Californian counties are in revolt over this, and other states too, what will BC'ers do, what will the unions do, where is the BC NDP on this issue?
Fish-counter
2 years ago
Frankly, I am SHOCKED, not!
It would be more shocking if politicians didn't line their pockets at the public expense. That would be the day! No amount of cynicism can express my disgust.
Otherwise, as I understand them, these smart meters are an excellent way to monitor usage. I don't believe BC Hydro is using them as rip-off meters, in fact it is quite the opposite.
It is high (sic) time BC Hydro tracked down illegal grow-ops that rip off $900 million per year in stolen hydro. I have no problem with grow-ops per se, but they should pay their way and they should be taxed using the new HST. I would rather see a marijuana tax than a string of casinos merchandising misery across the province.
As for the BC Liberals, they are no worse than the federal Tories. With their proroguing of parliament and the latest in-out shell game with money, they are both more like a money-laundering scheme than a government.
It is off-topic, but Michael Ignatieff is not doing his job properly. Regardless of the polls, Canada needs a federal election NOW. BC needs one too. It is not right that an unelected person be nominated as the provincial premier. Christy Clark may be a fine person, but no one voted for her yet. Her designation as premier smacks of personality politics. I don't even know how she was allowed to run.
If unelected individuals are voted to run the governing party, there ought be an immediate election so the general public has an opportunity to endorse the party decision.
Whew! That felt good. Now I am going fishing, to ponder the fact that there are no finfish in the Strait of Georgia one can keep until June 1. Thankfully, there are a few crabs bottom-feeding. It is a bit like politics, really.
bfearn
2 years ago
BC Hydro and green power
As I understand it BC Hydro will not buy a homeowners 'green' power, period. They will give you a credit, if you produce more power than you use and that credit can be applied to your Hydro bill, no cash available. They pay you for this 'green' power at an "avoided cost rate" which I think is less than you pay them for normal Hydro power. I looked all over the BC Hydro web site for the Net Metering rate and if it's there it's well hidden. It is probably less than 6 cents per Kilowatt hour which is much less than Hydro pays for 'green' power from Run of the River projects and far less than Ontario Hydro pays for homeowner produced 'green' power.
BC Hydro's policies seriously hinder the development of environmentally produced power but you would never know that if you listened to Hydro's Power Smart propaganda.
Hydro seems to be designed to give breaks to the few big guys while shafting the little guy, as this article illustrates.
freebear
2 years ago
bfearn - I agree; BC Hydro
doesn't want you to generate electricity or be eligible for carbon credits (if that scheme happens).
No interest in de-centralizing electricty generation; they want it all to themselves and the IPPs
Skywalker
2 years ago
Will never ceases to amaze.
Unfortunately most of his revelations are depressing. This incestuous bunch that seem to think BC is their own little fiefdom to exploit and the rest of us are just serfs who pay their way are a despicable bunch of parasites, They go all the way from the Premier's Office down to the Boards they sit on. Makes you want to take to the streets.
stevebailey
2 years ago
It's Easy!
They're "smart"; we're dumb and they know it. We won't question it or even raise a whimper.
Cool Hand
2 years ago
Corex
Corex is a reputable firm, irrespective of some conspiracy theory being bandied about.
Did the Corex contract require BC Hydro board approval and, if so, did McVicar recuse herself from that decision? That's a better question to ask.
BTW, one benefit of these smart meters will be the prevention of an estimated $100 million in annual electricity theft from BC Hydro.
Skywalker
2 years ago
Wait a minute.
With a bunch of like minded directors all doing the bidding of their leader it really doesn't matter if one of the them sat out during the decision. Don't you think everyone around the table is aware of the connection. You really got to be naive to think that excusing yourself will ensure an impartial outcome from the rest. Did any of the companies make a contribution to the BC Liberal Party would be a better question.
Reness
2 years ago
The Manipulators are Us.
Jees, another salvo against the poor manipulators. As brilliant and researched as it may be, pal, we heard it all before. We knew, at least with Walter Stewart’s 1982 work, “Towers of Gold – Feet of Clay”, that the pigs are among us and up to no good. The eternal rundown of politicians and related Mafiosos, as if these people became evil (or whatever they are) once in office, is bizarre. Politicians, CEOs, et al, are what they are, achieve their goals (as portrayed again in this article) because the people let them. The idea to regroup and toss the bastards out is not to run one complaint after another but to set things in motion to make them stop. So many people out there crying foul, not one I have heard of who wants to start a movement to toss the system out and begin from scratch. Wonder why that is? Complaining is a lot easier than taking action. Well, you’ll go on complaining while the manipulators are laughing it all the way to their bank, with your money. Sooner than later, the old saying: “….under Capitalism the people have the right to call their leader a 4-letter-word, and they have the right to freeze and starve under bridges”, will become the daydreamer’s last hurray.
Those here who promote other political parties, notably the NDP, I suppose, haven’t learned a damn thing. Either that, or they are simply on the side of the going establishment, and their complaint being, they are not at the steering wheel.
Truth is, the people do not need politicians and their machinery of manipulation, the political parties to represent them. All that is required is one representative per district, never mind how many people reside in that district. That’s a good start. It’s called Democracy.
Skywalker
2 years ago
Reness
When the NDP is in power for the same percentage of time that the right-wing parties are, then I will give you comments some credence. As it is you have nothing to substantiate you claim that some of us have not learned a damn thing. Start by changing the federal government away from the old forms of government that sets the rules the provinces exist under. Then change the provincial government to something more responsive to people and we'll see. Alternate who is behind the steering wheel and if that doesn't work you might have a point.
Under capitalism you have the right to call a leader a 4-letter word but unless you are one of the well-heeled you can't buy the government. What makes the current system corrupt is the notion that a government exists exclusively for the purpose of advancing capitalism and democracy just naturally follows.
Sick_of_Corruption
2 years ago
Gettin F'd by the Libs and big corps
How is it possible to let this happen. This inner circle of friends and collegues that are going to make a crap load amount of money of us working class hard working individuals is absolutely insane and in my mind criminal. How have we let this government get so out of control. This is what bothers me more than anything. These companies profit billions of dollars a year and they feel that they have to increase hydro rates by 50%. I feel that the cost should come out of there profits if they want to go ahead with these so called "smart meters" I personally could care less if i have one of these smart meters especially if there is going to be a 50% increase in the rate. So we are going to pay 50% more to increase there profits...absolutely insane. If at the end of the year after all expenses they come out 1 dollar ahead...that is still considered a profit....but the truth is we are talking in the billions. So its a 1 billion dollar refit to the existing meters...so they make 1 billion less in profits that year....so what. They want to increase rates so they not only maintain their profits but add to it. Greed....its the root of all thats evil..and it shows with the american banks and investment firms in the states. Our wages hardly increase but everything else increases in price. Pretty soon we wont ever be able to save money and get ahead. Our government as well as large corps are screwing us because of....GREED! Do they realize the state of the planet and if they keep going the way they are all that profit wont matter because we wont have a planet left. We are sitting at a crossroad if we keep going in this direction this planet wont survive and if it does...look at Libia and Egypt. People are standing up to these corrupt govs and corps. We have an obligation to the planet to do whats right and everything we are doing is VERY VERY wrong. Im very disappointed in the ones we elect because they are supposed to represent US and not the pocket book. This government is cancerous and like cancer spreads....there is a cure and that is to remove it.
slowthinker
2 years ago
stolen electricity
Jim Quails points out in his first blog that $30M was the first estimate for stolen power by grow-ops. Then it was bumped up to $100M. Huh?
Shady Scam
2 years ago
Smart Meter deployment reeks like that of HST implementation
Why is this going forward with no BCUC studies or approval? How can Hydro say on one hand the cost benefits(ie. the prevention of an estimated $100 million plus in annual electricity theft) yet then suggest that rates will rise 50%?) And the citizens of BC are being misinformed if they think substantial meter reader dollars will be saved as the readers currently read BOTH electric and gas meters. BC Hydro or Accenture may save dollars but Terasen(now Fortis) will still have to pay. That is, unless there's a hidden agenda to roll out Smart GAS Meters concurrently.
dave49
2 years ago
It just does not add up
$73 million of a $1,000 project go to installing up to 1.8 million Smart Meters. If that is installation alone that is $36 per install. Given the organization that will be involved to inform the public, schedule appointments, install the meter, test it, follow up with the customer, etc., I cannot fathom that could be for as little as $33 dollars per install.
According to some quick Google searching [how much does a Smart Meter cost in Canada?] the smart meters installed in Ontario cost $250 or $500. This does not add up!
This is a P3. Look it up on the Partnerships BC website.
dave49
2 years ago
Our economy is run like a club, with few members...
About five years ago I met a fellow in my neighbourhood who moved here from the USA a few years earlier. He has his activist leanings and he admitted he was shocked at the way our government ran. Basically, he observed, you go into politics here to help transfer public money into the pockets and bank accounts of your friends. Dare we call that corruption?
Will McMartin's article is a roadmap of how that process works. And we can't attack it as being purely a 'boy's club' anymore, as two women have prominent roles here. So does that political turncoat of convenience, David Emerson.
Great article, Will. But distressing, very distressing. They can screen Olympic suppliers with a fine tooth comb, but then this s__t happens. Not very consistent, are we. I guess we need the world watching to make sure things are on the 'up and up'.
ifsandsnbutts
2 years ago
Why is it...
that every time I read something about one of our crown corporations and the liberal governments destruction of it...my minds eye sees a pit of writhing, watchful, and venomous snakes?
Reness
2 years ago
Skywalker
Don’t recall offhand how many years the NDP was in power, -let’ say, after WAC Bennet-, seems to me, for quite a few years. It matters, time in power, because the people in power are getting bolder, constantly testing the grounds to see what they can get away with. They do that, we all do that, because it’s human. Questions beg, why was this man Campbell not stopped when he ran the Carbon Tax on us? Why did the people give this man an absolute majority in each election? Why is this man along with his personal team of marauders not in jail on conviction of treason? I don’t know, but in my world, selling out BC Rail by spinning a web of lies about the Crown Corp., undermining the integrity of BC Hydro by the same means and for the same purpose, selling mountain creeks and rivers to the highest bidders, in my country (Peace River) nationalizing or confiscating private property for the oil and gas companies, mostly foreign, and allowing a rig to set up shop a mere 100 meters from a residence, which would mean certain death to the inhabitants fool enough to endure the torture, I would call that treason, yes Sir, I would.
If you want to address the excesses of the system (say,people),federal or provincial (which I believe cannot be done) piece by piece, without tossing it out, start by demanding that a promise is a legally enforceable verbal contract and be handled as such. Add one little square to tick off on your ballot which says: “None of the above”; if 51% of participating voters put their mark in there, the election is null and void. Stop the ‘dictatorship-by-the-masses’ rule so much loved and fostered by politicos of all persuasions, i.e., the Lower Mainland rules by their votes. Demand personal, individual responsibility for orders given, actions taken, never mind what position the person holds. All this can only be done with a newly founded association (not yet another political party) of like-minded people who, for the good of all, realized that, if we keep going this way, we will not survive; ‘we’, mankind, that is.
freebear
2 years ago
Makes me wonder when we will be in the streets demanding
the ouster of the regime?
Maybe if food prices soar; or oil/gasoline?
What a mess!
reallife
2 years ago
Reness
" the Lower Mainland rules by their votes" Are you suggesting the Campbell government is a result of lower mainland votes? North and South Peace ridings elected Liberal candidates and have always been right wing.
"allowing a rig to set up shop a mere 100 meters from a residence, which would mean certain death to the inhabitants" Hopefully you meant this as hyperbole and do not intend it to be taken literally.
Mikemah
2 years ago
Liberals
And this surprises who ?
crankypants
2 years ago
Safety concerns
A few weeks back, a guest on one of the talk shows on CKNW was talking about WI-FI in schools and indicated that these smart meters emit the same type of microwave emissions as WI-FI. So do cordless, landline telephones, and I suspect other types of technology. According to the powers that be, these various enhancements to our lifestyles all fall within safe guidelines when taken on an individual basis. But, as more and more enhancements utilize the same technology, what will the cumulative effect be?
Consider the penchant to densify as much of Metro Vancouver, as well as other larger centres, one has to question what kind of environment we, and our progeny, will be living in going forward. I assume that most condominium structures have a separate hydro meter for each suite. How much total output of microwave signals will people be living amongst? Food for thought, methinks.
Light the Way
2 years ago
Such misinformation
As a couple other posters have pointed out, Corix is a reputable company in this market segment and also a BC based company that had its roots in Terasen Gas (FortisBC). While the different connections are neat to watch and like a numerologist tearing a date apart after a tragedy this seems a little streached. It seems to me that Occam's Razor applies here "the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one".
BC Hydro (right or wrong) decided to implement Smart Meters and alas Corix is in the business (successfully I might add) of doing this business. Seems simple to me.
Light the Way
2 years ago
To Shady Scam
The idea of automating meter reading has been around for over 20 years and it would seem to me that if the only savings was the meter reading jobs, it wouldn't even be on the table. The few million it must take to read meters manually would seem to pale in comparison to the 1 billion dollar price tag here.
As well according to Terasen's public BCUC filing to take work away from Accenture, they do have an intent at some point in the future to automate their meters. No hidden plan there.
Reness
2 years ago
reallife
How many people in the Lower Mainland now? 3 million? Whatever, the total is higher than all people living outside the LM. With the system set up as it is, why would they not rule? You are correct the Peace always had a leaning to the right and a very dim view of the NDP. That fact, however, is neither here nor there. We do not rule. Our votes count for nothing, and that is what I am bitterly opposed of and demand to be changed. When we, by our majority vote, say ‘no’ to Site C dam, that should be the end of it. Hyperbole with regard to what, that the law allows them to drill 100 meters from a house, or that, in such a case, the residents of this house would die? Either one, I wished it would be mere exaggeration. It surely would end my nightmares.
Reness
2 years ago
reallife
How many people in the Lower Mainland now? 3 million? Whatever, the total is higher than all people living outside the LM. With the system set up as it is, why would they not rule? You are correct the Peace always had a leaning to the right and a very dim view of the NDP. That fact, however, is neither here nor there. We do not rule. Our votes count for nothing, and that is what I am bitterly opposed of and demand to be changed. When we, by our majority vote, say ‘no’ to Site C dam, that should be the end of it. Hyperbole with regard to what, that the law allows them to drill 100 meters from a house, or that, in such a case, the residents of this house would die? Either one, I wished it would be mere exaggeration. It surely would end my nightmares.
Reness
2 years ago
reallife
How many people in the Lower Mainland now? 3 million? Whatever, the total is higher than all people living outside the LM. With the system set up as it is, why would they not rule? You are correct the Peace always had a leaning to the right and a very dim view of the NDP. That fact, however, is neither here nor there. We do not rule. Our votes count for nothing, and that is what I am bitterly opposed of and demand to be changed. When we, by our majority vote, say ‘no’ to Site C dam, that should be the end of it. Hyperbole with regard to what, that the law allows them to drill 100 meters from a house, or that, in such a case, the residents of this house would die? Either one, I wished it would be mere exaggeration. It surely would end my nightmares.
crankypants
2 years ago
Light the Way
BC Hydro did not decide to implement smart meters. The BC Liberal Party, under the leadership of Gordon Campbell, decreed that BC Hydro would adopt and install smart meters. And to make sure there was no type of misunderstanding on this directive, they removed the ability of the BCUC to even investigate the pros and cons of this move, never mind possibly rejecting the idea.
MacKenna
2 years ago
THIS GOVERNMENT HAS TO GO...
While the big papers promote Christy Clark, as if she is something new on the BC faux liberal scene, the truth is far smellier than most people know. It would be a colossal mistake to re-elect these corrupt clowns who care for NOBODY but themselves and their rich corporate friends.
99thDimension
2 years ago
Breach of the Public Trust
There is enough information in this article for the RCMP to lay charges.
pchips
2 years ago
There is no breach and connections are networking
BC is a small place and 6 degrees of separation becomes 3 degrees. The reality is everyone knows everyone else. BCIMC owns the other 50% that means the other 50% are gov't employees benefiting from Corix's win, would it be better if it went to a foreign base installer. The investment will be worthwhile, it is the trend. Water meters in Vancouver will be next. CAI invests well and has a good track record of investments. We should all be so lucky. Corix is a Canadian success story, with huge successes in the States, people complain about Canadian companies taking over foreign ones. Enjoy the fact that a BC company is having success in the US with Cdn. & US investor's money.