NDP jolt to power producers just what critics want

MARK HUME
Globe and Mail
April 13, 2009

VANCOUVER -- It didn't take independent power producers long to respond when the NDP released its campaign platform last week.

Minutes after NDP Leader Carole James handed out the document, a news release was sent out by Steve Davis, president of the Independent Power Producers Association of B.C., with a glaring headline that stated: "NDP POLICIES WOULD DESTROY B.C.'S GREEN POWER INDUSTRY."

What followed was a vigorous attack on the election platform, and a warning by Mr. Davis that "the NDP's policies would freeze investment overnight, leaving us to continue importing coal and gas fired electricity from the U.S. and Alberta and exporting investment dollars and B.C. jobs to those jurisdictions."

It was a remarkably rapid and blunt response by the IPPBC, but then they had seen it coming.

The NDP has long been voicing concerns about the Liberal energy plan, which has triggered such a stampede to harness B.C. rivers for private power generation, that it has been called a liquid gold rush.

Ms. James has given several speeches in which she has attacked the government's energy policies and she has said the whole plan needs to be re-examined. She has also showed up at several public rallies, promising to help fight the growth of independent public power.

More than 8,000 potential power-generating sites have been identified on B.C. rivers, and at least 200 of those have been staked out by independent producers, who are being offered inflated prices for energy by BC Hydro to promote development.

The Liberal argument that British Columbia needs these projects hasn't resonated with the public, largely because BC Hydro was already doing such a good job of meeting the province's needs, producing some of the cheapest hydropower in North America.

The NDP, which seems to have a much better read on the public mood than the Liberals, was quick to label the energy program a giveaway of a public resource.

The platform released by Ms. James pledges to halt new independent power projects "until a full review of anticipated supply and demand is completed."

Existing contracts would be honoured, but those projects that haven't yet been approved might never be.

The NDP would also end the continuing privatization of BC Hydro, and would remove restrictions that are keeping the Crown corporation from competing with private producers in developing alternative energy sources.

"Gordon Campbell has forced BC Hydro to purchase all new energy from private producers," the platform states. "This puts British Columbians in a lose-lose situation: We're losing our resources and we're paying more for private power."

Despite the job-loss fears raised by the IPPBC, the NDP platform is probably going to generate a lot of voter support because it taps into a growing protest movement.

When Northwest Cascade Power Ltd. proposed putting a string of dams in the Pitt River watershed and a power line through a park, there was an overwhelming public outcry, with more than 1,000 people turning up at one community meeting in March, 2008. (The project seemed dead when the Liberal government refused to allow the proponent to cross the park, but it is back with a revised plan to tunnel under the park.)

In recent months, a public campaign to stop Plutonic Power Corp., from building 18 run-of-river dams in Bute Inlet has generated a groundswell of protest, with former talk show host Rafe Mair leading the charge. Mr.
Mair, a former Social Credit cabinet minister under the Bill Bennett regime, has gone so far as to urge people to follow his lead - and vote NDP.

Just last month environmental groups launched the 10,000 Voices campaign over the Internet, which tried to drown Liberal MLAs in a flood of e-mails, faxes and phone calls protesting the development of private power in British Columbia.

A lot of that human energy can now be expected to flow to the NDP, which has promised to deliver just what the critics want.

No wonder the platform sent a shudder through the IPPBC. They know that if the NDP get in, a lot of independent power projects will be dead in the water.

mhume@globeandmail.com

Posted by Arthur Caldicott on 13 Apr 2009