Grassroots Blogs, Articles and Reports on BC’s Green Energy Policy Debacle

December 15th, 2009

“AND THE QUESTION IS???”

“The recently announced Green Energy Task Force reminds me of a story that soft energy path guru Amory Lovins liked to tell. It was about this billboard  pronouncing, in giant, biblically bold print, that Jesus is the Answer. Someone, a shameless heathen no doubt, innocently scrawled underneath: but what is the question?

So it is with the Green Energy Task Force. The answer is to unleash all of the green energy potential in the province by identifying and addressing impediments to the development of new power projects — impediments, for example, like BC Hydro’s procurement practices; the oversight of BC Hydro’s plans and purchases by the BC Utility Commission; the resource planning and permitting that the government itself has to do….”

Marvin Shaffer, SFU’s Public Policy Center

http://www.policynote.ca/2009/11/23/and-the-question-is/

“RISKY BUSINESS”

“The government’s recent rejection of the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) decision on the Burrard Thermal power plant had nothing to do with the operations and GHG or other emissions at Burrard.  BC Hydro freely admits it is business as usual with Burrard. It will operate the plant as it has in the past — to meet winter peak capacity requirements, when required, and maintain voltage stability in the Lower Mainland. The only difference is that it will be forced to buy more ‘back-up’ power from IPPs because for purposes of energy reliability the government has decreed BC Hydro must assume Burrard does not exist. These steps by government and the new task forces it is creating are, without question, all about doing whatever it takes to develop an export-driven IPP industry in BC….”

Marvin Shaffer, SFU’s Public Policy Center

http://www.policynote.ca/2009/11/12/risky-business/

“GREEN ENERGY IN BC”

“It goes without saying that green power is important if we are to ever
achieve a sustainable economy. But there are real questions are about
how we get there, and more precisely what government policy should be toget there.

As you have heard, much is being made of the so called BC green powerstrategy. I say “so called” because while there is a lot going on it isnot clear how green it is and how sincere the intentions are behind it.trust we can have in what we are told and being promised.”

Doug McAurthur, SFU’s Public Policy Center

http://www.policycentre.ca/policy-notes/green-energy-in-bc/

“GREEN, DECENT AND PUBLIC”

The Council of Canadians, working with the Canadian Labour Congress, have produced Green, Decent and Public, a report focused on the distinct opportunities of the public sector to play a prominent role in generating decent green jobs.

“Market liberalization involves a shift in understanding electricity as a public good and service or “commons,” to electricity as a commodity traded and sold for private commercial profit.

This shift is problematic for a number of reasons including decreased accountability, higher electricity prices and concerns with limited reliability. These results have been experienced in a number of jurisdictions that have liberalized their electricity sectors including Great Britain,12 U.S. states13 as well as in Canada. From June to October 2000 the price of electricity rose from 5 cents to 25 cents
per kWh after market liberalization, jumping to the third most expensive jurisdiction in North America.14 Albertans have also been forced to compete with the California market, paying California prices and competing for power generated in the province. There has also been an increase in brown-outs.

The future of renewable power: Heading down the path
of market liberalization

Increasing renewable power generation is becoming a social and political priority; all provinces have some form of policy intended to increase “green” power and green jobs.17 This is taking place in the context of a trend towards market liberalization in Canadian electricity sectors. Unbundling of electric utilities operations into separate organizations, increasing provincial wholesale and retail access to electricity sectors, and establishing competitive markets in Alberta and Ontario are creating opportunities for the expansion of private power generation. Provincial policies, to varying degrees, are encouraging this pattern.

Creating a market for private renewable power generation
shifts away from predominantly public ownership. While the extent to which this is accompanied by other features of market liberalization differs based on provincial regulatory and policy context, it indicates a
shift to the market liberalization path away from public power systems. While increasing renewable power is an undeniable priority, it does not have to be accompanied by further market liberalization in the electricity sector.

The B.C. case: Experiences with market liberalization and renewable power

B.C. Hydro is now required to buy almost all of its future needs from private investor-owned power producers (often referred to as independent power producers, IPPs). Licences for water and wind resources are being sold at minimal costs, helping to create what some have referred to as a private power gold rush, particularly with “run-of-river” projects.

The IPP approach raises concerns about price volatility and the capacity of the B.C. government to ensure long-term energy security. Contracts are being signed at a high cost to B.C. ratepayers and will result in an upward pressure on electricity prices.20 While the government claims that IPPs will help achieve electricity “self-sufficiency,” run-of-river projects will produce power most reliably during the spring freshet when public hydroelectric generating stations are also producing their maximum. When contracts expire, private power producers will continue to profit from provincial resources and will have significant rights under NAFTA to export power to the highest bidder. Private run-of-the-river projects are being actively opposed on several grounds by a coalition involving social justice, labour, indigenous groups and communities, environmental activists and municipalities. The coalition is concerned with the environmental and social impacts of IPPs.

Green, Decent And Public: Report by the Council of Canadians and Candian Labour Congress