SCOTT SIMPSON, Vancouver Sun, July 27, 2010
Deadline looming for project near Trail
The British Columbia government continues to give serious consideration to a major hydroelectric expansion project on the Columbia River system.
Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Bill Bennett told The Vancouver Sun editorial board on Monday that plans for a 335-megawatt expansion of the Waneta generating station on the Pend d'Oreille River south of Trail are "being seriously scoped out right now."
Plans for the expansion were approved by government regulators in 2008, but Columbia Power Corp. announced nine months ago the process had stalled due to the absence of a deal with BC Hydro to buy the extra power that would be generated.
Last year, Hydro paid Teck Mining $825 million for a one-third share of the electricity produced from the existing, Teck-owned Waneta generating station.
The new project would generate more than twice the amount of electrical capacity Hydro purchased from Teck -- although it would cost substantially more to produce because it would come from a new facility.
"Obviously I come from the region and I have a personal interest in what goes on in the Columbia Basin," said Bennett, MLA for East Kootenay. "We don't have a decision or anything that I can announce or talk about right now but we are looking really seriously at doing Waneta. That would be the culmination of the mandate that [Columbia Power Corp. and Columbia Basin Trust] were given when they were first created."
A contract awarded last year to SNC-Lavalin to build a two-unit powerhouse expires in mid-August, adding some urgency to negotiations among Columbia Power, BC Hydro and Fortis to buy the power that would be produced.
Meanwhile, Bennett said he continues to impress upon his cabinet colleagues the urgency of preparing for a review of the Columbia River Treaty between Canada and the United States.
The treaty expires in 2024, but if either party decides not to renew it, notice must be given in 2014.
U.S. authorities have already begun to review the treaty -- and it's not clear at this point if it will be revised, renewed or abandoned.
The treaty annually earns B.C. around $200 million, for water management services that facilitate flood control, irrigation and hydroelectricity production south of the border.
"I'm not sure that government does really understand the Columbia River Treaty yet," Bennett said. "One of my jobs will be to educate cabinet on what the treaty does, what's at stake."
Bennett said U.S. priorities have changed since the treaty was originally struck in 1964. "The treaty is based on two principles. One is flood protection and flood management. The other is power production. Those are the two priorities for the Columbia River Treaty but what has happened since the treaty was created is that the U.S. Supreme Court has mandated that there is a third priority which exceeds the first two -- which is [protection of] endangered species."
U.S. authorities release water over their dams to facilitate spawning and migration of salmon.
"B. C. has a real opportunity here to renegotiate this treaty in ways that could be more beneficial even than it has been in the past," said Bennett.
ssimpson@vancouversun.com
