Power line needs mining money, says energy minister

Terrace Standard
July 08, 2008

MINING COMPANIES can forget about any government effort to build a power line up Hwy37 North unless one or more of them has a project ready to go and money on the table, says provincial energy minister Richard Neufeld.

He's rejected even reviving technical and environmental studies on what's commonly called the Northwest Transmission Line until that happens.

The multi-million dollar line was to run from Terrace to Bob Quinn Lake and was announced last fall by Premier Gordon Campbell as a partnership between the province and mining companies.

The province was to pay nearly $250 million and NovaGold Resources and TeckCominco, partners in the Galore Creek copper and gold mine construction project, another $158 million for the $400 million line.

Galore Creek was going to get the power it needed by building a feeder line to connect to the larger line at Bob Quinn Lake and other power would be available to other mining companies who needed it when their own projects began.

But when work on Galore Creek stopped last fall as costs far outran the construction budget, the province also stopped any and all work on the line.

Since then, mining companies, companies which serve the mining industry and local and regional governments, have amassed a $300,000-warchest to finance a lobbying campaign to keep the Northwest Transmission Line alive.

But even requests to do all of the paperwork, including reaching agreements with area First Nations, so the line is construction-ready when mining companies themselves are ready have been rebuffed by Neufeld, who said taxpayers would blast the province for spending tax monies in that fashion.

"What would Fred and Martha say to the government if it wanted to spend $400 million on a line and there's nothing there. Are there any projects? We had one and that was Galore Creek," said Neufeld.

Even doing all of the paperwork in advance of there being an actual mining project wouldn't fly because it might be outdated by the time a mining company had its permits and financing, the minister added.

"I guarantee you we can get a line there in the same time frame. I'm confident we can do it in parallel," said Neufeld of a company building a mine while the province constructed a power line. "That makes sense."

"What if Galore Creek was five years away? You'd be back to Square One," he said of environmental and other approvals needed for a line's construction.

Mining companies - and the public - shouldn't doubt the province's commitment to build a power line once conditions warrant it.

As proof, Neufeld said the province provided the Galore Creek partnership a guarantee as part of the Northwest Transmission Line agreement.

"They wanted assurances the line would be there. What we said was that if we could not get power to them by 2009, then BC Hydro would have put in diesel generators," he said.

Neufeld also questioned the contrast between companies wanting the province to move ahead with the power line compared to the money they'd make from operating mines.

"I had one company say they'd recover the $2.5 billion it would cost them [in mine construction costs] in three years. So if they can do that, what's the hold up with $158 million for a line? Why are they asking the taxpayers to fund the whole line?" he said.

"We're as committed as we ever were but we're looking for partners," he added.