The following letter to the editor appeared in BC Business Magazine February edition.

Dear Editor:

The only thing shocking about John Calvert’s “Brace for a Hydro Shock” (October ’07)  is his contention that BC should increase its reliance on imported dirty energy generated from coal and natural gas to keep hydro rates low.  BC has enjoyed some of the lowest electricity prices in North America for decades because the price we pay for electricity today is based on the cost of generation from plants build in the 1960’s and ‘70s that are already paid for.

What’s conspicuously absent from Calvert’s argument is the fact that demand in BC is growing and almost 15 per cent of the energy we consume today is imported from Alberta and the U.S.

BC’s energy goods are expected to increase by as much as 45 per cent by 2020, and in order to decrease our reliance on non renewable imports, we need to embrace the substantial renewable energy potential right here in BC.

To move BC toward self-sufficiency, the province has turned to the private sector to develop, finance, build and operate small, renewable energy projects.  Calvert wrongly contends that purchases from the private sector will be the reason electricity rates will increase in BC.  The truth is, regardless of who builds new generation capacity – BC Hydro or the private sector – the electricity generated is going to cost more.

It makes economic sense for the private sector to take on the risk of financing, building and operating these projects, rather than putting BC taxpayers on the hook for potential cost overruns.  In return approximately one-third of the revenues these developers receive are paid back to the province in the form of water rentals, property and school taxes, income tax and other levies.  Further, because these energy-purchase contacts are at a fixed price for periods of up to 35 years, consumers are protected long-term from price increases.

Calvert’s proposal to meet BC’s future energy needs by continuing to import dirty electricity will not help to achieve the province’s goal of self-sufficiency by 2016, but rather will quickly ensure we don’t leave a legacy of clean, reliable energy for the next generation.

Donald McInnes
CEO, Plutonic Power Corp.,
Vancouver