The B.C. NDP governmentB次元官网网址檚 cancellation of B.C. HydroB次元官网网址檚 contract power program is a step toward new ways of adding clean energy to the provinceB次元官网网址檚 electricity grid, Energy Minister Michelle Mungall says.

B.C. Hydro has excess power now and is losing billions selling it on the North American energy market while locked into long-term contracts, but thatB次元官网网址檚 not the end of the need, Mungall said in an interview with Black Press Monday.

The cancellation of B.C. HydroB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渟tanding offerB次元官网网址� program for run-of-river, wind, solar and biomass power projects leaves the door open for Indigenous energy developments to proceed.

B次元官网网址淲hen we went forward with Site C we committed to working with Indigenous nations on future power procurement,B次元官网网址� Mungall said. B次元官网网址淎 lot of Indigenous nations have seen energy as a part of economic reconciliation, but also for remote communities to get off diesel and onto more renewable sources that they own as well.B次元官网网址�

With the Site C dam on the Peace River not scheduled to come online until 2024, new renewable projects are to be considered in the second phase of the governmentB次元官网网址檚 B.C. Hydro review, Mungall said. That includes removing the B.C. Liberal governmentB次元官网网址檚 ban on the utility owning and operating its own small projects, or allowing local governments to get into the power production business.

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MungallB次元官网网址檚 home community of Nelson has its own power utility and hydro dam on the Kootenay River that supplies more than half of its own needs, buying the rest from FortisBC.

B次元官网网址淲ould it be better for local governments to develop an asset and then have an agreement with B.C. Hydro for transmission,B次元官网网址� Mungall said. B次元官网网址淭here is a variety of ways we can deliver the power that future generations are going to need.B次元官网网址�

Clean Energy B.C., the industry organization for private producers, objected to the governmentB次元官网网址檚 characterization of billions being lost in power contracts that run for as long as 40 years. A review by a former B.C. Treasury Board official also supported the long-time NDP claim that run-of-river power comes in the spring, when B.C. HydroB次元官网网址檚 dams may be filled to overflowing with melting snow.

B次元官网网址淚ntermittence in electricity generation is an element of the equation, but B.C.B次元官网网址檚 large storage dams provide ideal backing for a system that still has far less intermittent power than Washington State, the U.K., Denmark, Germany and many other jurisdictions,B次元官网网址� Clean Energy B.C. said it its response. B次元官网网址淣ot all run-of-river hydro plants are affected by the spring freshet snow melt.B次元官网网址�

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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