Wednesday, June 05, 2002

We need more energy, says Premier Campbell

Michael Smyth The Province Wednesday, June 05, 2002

If your B.C. Hydro bill starts gouging your wallet over the next few years, Premier Gordon Campbell says don't blame him. Blame La-Z-Boy-lounging couch potatoes and their new high-definition TV sets. The high-tech boob tubes, with their power-guzzling crystal-clear screens and surround-sound speaker systems, drain four times as much electricity as standard TVs.

Campbell singled out the emerging craze for new TV technology as one reason why new energy sources must be developed -- and why Hydro rates, now among the lowest in North America, could go up as a result. "Energy consumption is going up at a phenomenal rate," Campbell told a meeting of The Province editorial board to mark today's one-year anniversary of his swearing-in as premier.

B.C. Hydro later told me energy consumption is going up two per cent a year. I'm not sure how "phenomenal" that is, but Campbell insisted: "We need more energy." He denied again that the government plans to privatize B.C. Hydro. But he tiptoed around questions about deregulation and proposed open-market electricity pricing that critics say would drive up Hydro rates as much as 60 per cent. Will he cave in to demands from independent power producers to move to market pricing?

"I don't know what the final pricing strategy is going to be. But the goal of the final pricing strategy is to make energy a competitive advantage for B.C.

" But he also said the province needs independent power producers to meet future energy demands, so:

"I can't pretend to people that if we're going to make a huge investment in energy that there's not going be some increases in rates."

Translation: Maybe your Hydro bill won't go up 60 per cent. But it's going up.

On health care, Campbell defended his government's decision to close some nursing homes in favour of cheaper "assisted living spaces." He said even his own mother is in assisted living. "If I said to her today, 'Mom, how's it working?' She'd say 'Great. Thank you for convincing me to do this.' We're trying to say to the health authorities, 'Make sure you deal with these people in that way. Be as sensitive as you possibly can.' But he also acknowledged his mother is in private, not public, care. I certainly don't begrudge him: Who wouldn't want the best for their own parents? But comparing his mother's care at Arbutus Manor on Vancouver's west side to the plight of residents of public nursing homes facing forced relocation is hardly fair. More like apples and oranges. On the political turmoil that's engulfed the Jean Chretien cabinet, Campbell expressed concern about B.C.'s critical dealings with Ottawa.

 "The difference will be if they're so distracted by what's taking place with themselves politically that they're not focusing on what they should do as a government." He said he'll continue pressing Chretien and his new finance minister, John Manley, to resolve the softwood lumber dispute, improve our highways in time for the Olympics bid, move forward on off-shore oil exploration and finally build a Vancouver convention centre. Hopefully, he'll be heard above the din of Chretien's own civil war. Here's what he said about highway toll booths: "There may well be some tolls. I think the Sea to Sky Highway is a potential candidate . . .

" The most interesting exchange came right at the end of the session, when Campbell colourfully described how difficult it is to change the way bureaucracy operates. "There's a lot of crust there. There's a lot of rigidity there. There's a lot of government saying, '

We can't do it.' "I think what really has been the most illuminating thing for me is how incredibly powerful the status quo is. People would far rather live with the problems we've got than try to solve them. There's institutional inertia that is enormous. "The institution just sits there like a big squatting Buddha down on top of everything and says, 'Don't move.' " He said the battle with B.C. teachers was like that. But, seeing as he kicked that particular Buddha in the butt, maybe that was just vanity talking.

HYDRO'S TOP 10

Here are the top 10 electricity gobblers in the home, according to the PowerSmart people at B.C. Hydro:

1. Heating

2. Water heating

3. Lighting

4. Old refrigerator*

5. Freezer

6. Clothes dryer

7. Computer (running 24 hours a day)

8. Stove/range

9. TV

10. Dishwasher

* If you have a new refrigerator, rank it at No. 9 before your TV.