Taking Back
the Power
Opposition to private Run-of-River projects
in B.C. runs deep
Hydro-electricity in
British Columbia has
historically been in
public hands – until
recently when the
provincial government
decided to open local
waterways for business.
In August 1961,
the B.C. government passed Bill 5,
the Power Development Act, which
facilitated the merger between BC
Electric, the Peace River Power
Development Company and the BC
Power Commission. The new company
was subsequently renamed BC Hydro,
creating a large, publicly owned power
authority that allowed for expansion of
the system, with widespread and affordable
rural delivery. The government
could obtain financing at lower interest
rates than private industry, and the public
sector undertook major development
projects to provide affordable public
power for British Columbians.
Privatization forces first attacked the
public utility in the 1980s, when corporations
supported the sale of the gas
division to private interests. (The private
gas company Terasen has recently been
resold to U.S.-based Kinder Morgan.)
BC Hydro, however, remained in public
control and produced more than enough
energy to meet the province’s needs
while fuelling development, job creation
and community growth throughout
B.C. Through the 1990s, private companies
continued to lobby for market
pricing – a shift that would have resulted
in astronomical rate increases.
This privat izat ion is not “green”
Since the election of Gordon Campbell’s
pro-deregulation, pro-privatization
Liberal government in 2001, there has
been a major shift in B.C.’s energy
policy. The province’s newest Energy
Plan, announced in early 2007 and
titled “BC Energy Plan: A Vision for
Clean Energy Leadership,” includes
plans for “green energy development.”
While touting this program as a way to
combat climate change, the BC Energy
Plan actually delivers a masked death
sentence to the future of publicly controlled
energy delivery.
At the same time the B.C. government
released this “vision,” it also restricted
BC Hydro from developing any new
sources of generation. The government
then opened the door to applications for
“water licences” which, when granted,
allow private corporations to develop
Run-of-River hydro projects. These
projects create dams and divert water in
order to generate hydro-electricity from
hundreds of B.C. rivers. BC Hydro is
then forced to buy this energy back for
public consumption, locking the public
into purchasing energy previously generated
publicly from private corporations.
Sound crazy? Many people think so. BC
Hydro has been a long cherished public
utility, and diverse organizations have
been working together to challenge the
government on its ludicrous plan. The
government has already granted more
than 60 water licences, 35 of them are
in some form of operation; hundreds
more are pending, and more than 3,000
potentially “viable” river sites have been
identified in the province.
Despite the fact that the government
calls Run-of-River projects “independent
power projects” (IPPs), there is
nothing independent about them. Some
of the largest corporate energy companies
have filed for multiple licences,
including Plutonic Power, Ledcor Power
Inc. and Axor Power Inc.
Environmental devastation
The devastating environmental impacts
of these projects are astounding. The
Western Canada Wilderness Committee
states that Run-of-River projects should
be called “river diversion” projects,
as “80 to 90 per cent of the river is diverted through large pipes in order to
generate electricity.” Proposed project
sites are often in remote wilderness
areas, requiring construction of not
only the dam, penstock, substation and
powerhouse, but also access roads and
massive transmission lines – all of which
cause huge environmental damage and
significant harm to the flora and wildlife
in the area.
One Run-of-River project now under
way is Ledcor’s project on Ashlu
Creek located between Vancouver and
Whistler. The abundant natural area is
home to bald eagles, owls, black and
grizzly bears, and the river is famous
for outdoor recreation activities such
as white-water kayaking. Since 2004,
the local municipality has made several
attempts to protect the area, but its local
autonomy has been usurped by the provincial
government, keen to showcase
the Ashlu as a “model” Run-of-River
project.
Fighting back
B.C. residents are no strangers to backdoor
privatization and are now fighting
these projects head on. Smaller communities
outside of the Lower Mainland
have led the charge, identifying and
opposing water licence applications in
their region by presenting resolutions
to their local governments and calling
for a moratorium on development
of Run-of-River projects until their
cumulative impacts can be evaluated.
Currently, neither the applications
nor granted licences are subject to the
B.C. Environmental Assessment Act.
Assessment is done only on projects
that generate more than 50 megawatts
of power. Since Run-of-River projects
generate less than that amount, each
project is evaluated in isolation. No one
is taking the cumulated impacts into
consideration.
A gauge of public opposition to Run-of-
River projects was the Upper Pitt River
project proposed by Northwest Cascade
Power. When public opinion was sought
about building transmission lines
through the Pinecone Burke Provincial
Park to facilitate this project, hundreds
of people rose and spoke in opposition
to the precedent-setting invasion of a
provincial park. The B.C. government
was forced to deny the application.
The Council of Canadians has joined
with environmental groups, labour organizations,
citizens’ advocacy groups and
sports organizations to call on the B.C.
government to enact a moratorium and
stop the reckless give-away of B.C.’s rivers
and the control over public power.
Council chapters in Powell River and
Golden are opposing projects under way
in their regions, while other chapters –
Campbell River and Comox, for example
– are working with their regional
districts to support the moratorium.
Sending it south
While the B.C. government has stated
that the energy generated by these
private power companies is for domestic
consumption only, the Council of
Canadians has been concerned about
how the nefarious privatization of BC
Hydro fits within the Security and
Prosperity Partnership (SPP) agenda.
Energy integration – one of the main
driving forces of the SPP – encourages
corporations to seek profits across the
border in the electricity-hungry United
States; in this case, California. And
we are not the only ones making this
claim. John Calvert, author of Liquid
Gold: Energy Privatization in British
Columbia, has stated that “The B.C.
government’s energy policy is rapidly
transforming the province’s electricity
This photo shows the extensive clear-cutting
that is needed to make way for transmission
lines for Ashlu Creek’s Run-of-River project.
Construction is underway for Ledcor’s Ashlu
Creek Run-of-River project located between
Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia.
system from one owned and controlled
by the people of the province to one
that is operated in the interests of private
energy developers and multinational
energy corporations.” Earlier this year,
members of the Take Back the Power
campaign released a report by Simon
Fraser University economist Dr. Marvin
Shaffer that stated the main impetus
for the B.C. government’s Energy Plan
is to generate a large electricity surplus
for export. The report highlighted the
nonsensical over-generation of electricity
in summer months when B.C. energy
needs are at their lowest.
This covert plan has also been confirmed
by one of the private power
companies poised to make millions
of dollars in profit from Run-of-River
projects. Plutonic Power has been a key
corporate player in the Run-of-River
debate: in August Bruce Ripley, a company
representative, confirmed to an
audience of U.S. investors that Plutonic
expects to send some of the energJanuary 11, 2010
It’s time to turn out the lights on
Run-of-River projects and the B.C.
government’s privatization agenda.
For more information about B.C.’s
Take Back the Power campaign,
visit www.publicpowerbc.ca.
Carleen Pickard is the former BC-Yukon
Regional Organizer and new Director of
Organizing for the Council of Canadians.
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Photo 1: The photo above shows how extensive
water diversion is needed for Run-of-River
projects. This dam diversion on Ashlu Creek
has disrupted the abundant natural area
that is home to bald eagles, owls, black and
grizzly bears. Credit: Western Canada Wilderness Committee
Photo 2: This photo shows the extensive clear-cutting
that is needed to make way for transmission
lines for Ashlu Creek’s Run-of-River project. Credit: Western Canada Wilderness Committee
Photo 3: Construction is underway for Ledcor’s Ashlu
Creek Run-of-River project located between
Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia. Credit: Western Canada Wilderness Committee
