A wolf lurks at edge of IPP ‘green’ projects
Gwen Barlee, Vancouver Sun, September 17, 2012
When I was growing up my mother used to warn me to look out for a wolf in sheep’s clothing. What she meant was to be cautious about people and situations that are not what they seem. This idiom aptly applies to the issue of independent power projects (IPPs) in British Columbia.
Critics launch court action, release e-mail scathing B.C.’s environmental assessment process
Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun, August 23, 2012
B.C’s environmental assessment process is so flawed it cannot hope to fill the void created by the federal government walking away from assessments of almost 500 projects, critics charged Wednesday, while launching court action and releasing a scathing internal government email.
Carbon boondoggle robs poor to fuel rich
Brian Kieran, Monday Magazine, August 16, 2012
Government spin is usually merely tedious. However, on occasion it slips into a deceptive state and that is where B.C.’s much-lauded “carbon neutral” status resides today.
BC Government kills Feed-In Tariff program
BC Hydro, June 22 2012
In light of efforts to minimize electricity rate increases, the B.C. Government is not planning to proceed with the implementation of a British Columbia Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Regulation at this time.
The Regulation would require BC Hydro to establish a FIT program in accordance with the Clean Energy Act.
Clark declares natural gas ‘green energy’ as long as it’s used for LNG
By GORDON HAMILTON, Vancouver Sun, June 21, 2012
Premier Christy Clark said Thursday that natural gas is to be declared a source of clean energy as long as it is used to support the development of a new liquefied natural gas industry in British Columbia.
BC Hydro needs government policy changes
By Marvin Shaffer, Vancouver Sun, June 7, 2012
Though presented as part of its effort to protect families, the government's recently imposed cap on BC Hydro rate increases will not help British Columbians - families or otherwise. The cap on rates does nothing to reduce costs. At best it provides a short-term gain, but sooner or later BC Hydro will have to increase rates to match the increase in its costs.
Clean energy exports lose steam
By Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun, June 5, 2012
Two years after the B.C. Liberals pushed BC Hydro to develop clean energy for export, the drive is all but dead, a victim of the changing economics of the North American electricity market.
B.C. families to benefit from lower BC Hydro rates
NEWS RELEASE, Ministry of Energy and Mines, May 22, 2012
VANCOUVER – Minister of Energy and Mines Rich Coleman today announced the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) has been directed by the provincial government to reduce BC Hydro’s rate increases over three years by 50 per cent. This is consistent with last year’s BC Hydro review.
Power Failure: BC’s Clean Energy Act on Shaky Ground - Part 1
George Gibson, theCanadian.org, Feb 18 2012
The following is the first in a two-part series by geologist and concerned British Columbian George Gibson examining the failed private power model in BC.
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Government Pulls the Plug on Private River Power Projects
Gwen Barlee, Wilderness Committee, 06Feb2012
The BC government’s announcement last Friday that it is axing BC Hydro’s electricity self-sufficiency and insurance requirement should dramatically reduce the demand for private power projects and keep scores of wild rivers out of pipes.
Natural gas fuelling new economic opportunities
News Release, Premier's Office, Feb 3 2012
VANCOUVER - Premier Christy Clark today announced British Columbia's natural gas strategy will be established on a foundation of four priorities for long-term economic prosperity under the BC Jobs Plan.
Clark softens approach to sustainability as part of B.C.'s new energy strategy
By Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun, February 3, 2012
VICTORIA - Premier Christy Clark is making over her predecessors approach to energy self sufficiency to help make way for a significant expansion in the production of liquefied natural gas.
B.C. abandons self-sufficient energy plan
Justine Hunter, Globe and Mail, Feb. 03, 2012
Victoria — British Columbia will abandon its current commitment to move the province back to a position of energy self-sufficiency, Premier Christy Clark is announcing today.
The watered-down version of the policy is being rolled out as part of a new energy strategy aimed at fuelling a new liquefied natural gas industry.
California clean air regulations could “wipe out” Hydro’s export revenues
By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun, January 4, 2012
California’s new carbon cap-and-trade regulations, which came into effect Jan. 1, will require BC Hydro’s power exporting arm to buy costly carbon credits on its energy exports beginning in January, 2013, likely wiping out Hydro’s primary export market and increasing the cost of electricity to B.C. consumers in the process, a B.C. energy economist said Tuesday.
Too many parallels to HST debacle in smart meter rollout
Justine Hunter, Globe and Mail, Nov. 03, 2011
While the B.C. government was busy with what now stands as the province’s worst example of government communications on a major public policy – selling the harmonized sales tax – it discouraged BC Hydro from distracting the public with a sales job of its own.
Auditor General sounds alarm over BC Hydro accounting
JUSTINE HUNTER, Globe and Mail, Oct. 27, 2011
VICTORIA— BC Hydro is keeping rates artificially low by funnelling billions of dollars in expenses into deferral accounts, the province’s auditor general says.
Hydro ploy may hike costs for users
Editorial, Vancouver Sun, October 29, 2011
Let's be clear - B.C. Auditor-General John Doyle's latest report on BC Hydro is not about a dispute over arcane accounting rules.
BC Hydro: The Effects of Rate-Regulated Accounting
Auditor General of BC, October 2011
This report examines the implications of BC Hydro's use of rate-regulated accounting, which allows BC Hydro to establish deferral accounts into which it can "defer" expenses to future years.
Cheap power comes at a price
By Marvin Shaffer, Vancouver Sun, October 25, 2011
BC Hydro will lose millions supplying new mines and LNG facilities; losses that will be passed on to consumers
Liberals’ dumb response to smart-meter opposition could prove their Waterloo
By Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun, October 24, 2011
Smart meters emerge as a policy Waterloo for the Liberals and could become nails in Premier Christy Clark’s political coffin.
Liberals think we're not the brightest bulbs
By Paul Willcocks, Times-Colonist, October 5, 2011
Smart meters were expected to be a big deal at the UBCM meeting in Vancouver.
The surprise was Solicitor General Shirley Bond's bombshell revelation that the federal government had issued a takeit-or-leave-it final offer for a new 20-year RCMP contract.
Dumb introduction and smart meters
Les Leyne, Times Colonist, October 01, 2011
Premiers are always looking for a crowd-pleasing stunt for the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention.
Four years ago, Gordon Campbell came up with smart meters.
It seemed like a natural. People love home electronics, don't they?
UBCM delegates vote to suspend smart meter program
CBC News, September 30, 2011
[Excerpt] - Delegates at [the 2011 UBCM] convention in Vancouver also voted narrowly in favour of moratorium on BC Hydro Smart Meters, 55 per cent in favour and 45 against.
John Horgan, unplugged
Tom Fletcher, Victoria View, September 10, 2011
I had a lively discussion with NDP energy critic John Horgan this week, after a presentation by independent power producers about the benefits of expanding the province’s small hydro and wind power network to replace coal- and gas-fired electricity. Here’s an edited transcript:
'Self-sufficiency' energy policy: So where is the science?
By Marvin Shaffer, rabble.ca, September 9, 2011
The headline in the Globe was certainly ominous -- "Clark's Hydro policy threatens to collapse B.C.'s climate change progress, scientist says."


























