Will BC Hydro still argue that the energy from Site C will flow to British Columbians?

Posted on by Laila

This morning in BC Supreme Court, lawyers for BC Hydro will argue their application for an injunction against not only the Site C land stewards camped peacefully at history Rocky Mountain Fort, but also against the unnamed John Doe and Jane Doe.

Meeting them, will be supporters of the Site C land stewards and landowners named in the suit, including David Suzuki and Grand Chief Steward Philip. http://commonsensecanadian.ca/EVENTS-detail/suzuki-phillip-lead-support-peace-valley-land-defenders-hydro-seeks-injunction/
The rally is scheduled for 9:30 with both men taking questions from the media at that time.

I’ll be very interested to see the argument BC Hydro uses, particularly since a prior argument used in court last August, was that the energy from Site C would flow to British Columbians, who would benefit: 

“The clearing and other work that will be done on the south bank will not by any reasonable or objective measure cause serious or irreparable harm to the exercise of the applicant’s treaty rights.”

The project is in the public interest because the dam’s power will flow to British Columbians, he said.

BC Hydro has said the dam is expected increase its energy supply by eight per cent, enough to generate electricity for about 450,000 homes annually.

I guess the BC government forgot about this critical argument used by BC Hydro repeatedly, because the throne speech mentioned selling hydro power to Alberta… 

The throne speech also reconfirmed government support for the Site C dam project and showed the province is attempting to set itself up as “a clean energy superpower.”

The government wants to work with Alberta to reduce reliance on heavy pollutants like coal. Its proposal calls for the replacement of carbon-producing, coal-fired plants with LNG or by “supplying hydroelectricity power to Alberta.

This was confirmed by BC Energy minister in an article by Rob Shaw  where Adrian Dix calls out Bennett’s claims : http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/talks+sell+electricity+alberta/11714144/story.html?__lsa=f89f-58f3

B.C. NDP critic Adrian Dix said the B.C. government is “flailing around” trying to find a way to make money on the unnecessary surplus power it will generate by building the $9-billion Site C dam.

BC Hydro’s domestic demand is dropping and its estimates for power consumption over the next 20 years, used to justify Site C’s construction, are far off, said Dix.

“Now they are running around after the fact and trying to find markets to shore up their declining business case for Site C,” he said.

Kind of really does negate BC Hydro’s earlier claim to the Supreme court in August of 2015, that the dams power will flow to British Columbians, doesn’t it?

One would hope the Supreme Court would question and challenge the continuously changing claims of both BC Hydro and the BC government. Heaven knows someone has to….

 

7 thoughts on “Will BC Hydro still argue that the energy from Site C will flow to British Columbians?”

  1. I think part of the reason for ramming it through is the government’s need to grow the GDP.

    They want do that to keep the debt/GDP ratio from growing, since the debt is always growing. Despite what they say about balanced budgets.

    This explains their mindless fervour for LNG as well. Neither Site C nor LNG export makes any sense.

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  2. Bill Bennett has been in talks for how long with Alberta, promoting British Columbia’s IPP industry sector ….. Why are the IPP using our Transmission lines to sell to Alberta, Build their own!

    Globe and Mail

    Mr. Bennett told the industry on Wednesday that he is committed to the sector’s growth. But with the construction of Site C to meet the province’s expected demand, the province may have to look at exports to meet that promise. British Columbia’s Energy Minister said he is in talks to sell more power to Alberta to help that province wean itself off coal-fired power.

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-hydro-to-partner-with-clean-energy-industry-to-find-new-projects/article26921687/

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    1. Would be interesting to know the true agenda of the “fracking Queen” and her buddies.
      Even though she has honest friends like SNC Lavalin and the Malaysian Government, we should still believe every word she says???? Kudos to all the Site C protesters.
      Hydro bills are already ridiculously high!!
      2 billion more in debt this year but a balanced budget, does she think we are all stupid??
      Non Partisan but Fed Up

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  5. […] I again, blogged about that issue early Monday morning before court. These prior claims in court largely evaded public scrutiny since it happened during the height of deep summer last August,when anything but court cases are on most peoples minds.  (  https://lailayuile.com/2016/02/22/will-bc-hydro-still-argue-that-the-energy-from-site-c-will-flow-… […]

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