There I stood, watching the excavator dig, all of us covered in the fine orange-black powder that the clay here turns into when crushed after a long drought. We are 4 feet down and it is bone dry on top of the site of a spring that appears in winter. In Mid June though,which is usually known as Junuary for the appearance of cooler weather and replenishing rains… there is no sign of water anywhere. The red cedars are dying on eastern Van Isle due to years of summer drought and seeing the dry dusty trench now in front of me, it is easy to see why.
There is no water in the ground in an area that historically was a swamp due to the prevalence of underground springs.
The clay dries like hard pan and the little rain we have had during what is now documented as the driest spring in history in our town beside the sea, runs off and doesn’t absorb. This clay, known locally as Comox Clay, is the strangest thing I have ever seen. It doesn’t turn to dust, it turns to a micro powder like talc, and when I try to wash my hands, the water pools on top of it like mercury. I stare into the sink as I try to rub it away and it turns into a substance like dish soap in my hands…before I have added soap.
Right here in my own backyard, I can’t help feel like I have had a glimpse of the future here, in a valley where the local glacier the ultimately supplies our water aside from winter rains, is shrinking visibly. It used to form a mound between mountain peaks after winter…right now the peaks are slightly higher than the glacier in between.
Which is why when I saw a local article on dam levels and flow in Campbell River and Comox Lake, I started thinking about Site C ( cue the group NDP & BC Liberal think ” OMG Laila not Site C again!!” )
Yes Site C again. Just because I stopped blogging about it for my own health, doesn’t mean I stopped thinking it was wrong. If anything, it’s more wrong now than ever and I hear from sources not happy with Horgans LNG regime inside the NDP, that Horgan is second guessing his decision now. Why?
Because this: Upstream from Site C, is the Williston reservoir, a reservoir that BC Hydro claims hold a multi year supply of water for electricity. BC voters have been fed a repetitive line of bullshit from BC Hydro and from successive BC governments, that Hydro power is THE most reliable, consistent power source in BC.
Except… when it isn’t. The Williston Reservoir saw record low inflows this last fall .
The WAC Bennett dam and Peace River Dam typically provide 30 % of BC’s electricity. However, due to the lack of rain, coupled with higher demand due to the Enbridge explosion, BC hydro had to import electricity from the US and Alberta this spring, as revealed in this discussion between Andrew Weaver and Michelle Mungall in the legislature this spring: https://www.andrewweavermla.ca/2019/05/13/budget-estimates-bc-hydro-collapse-bcs-clean-energy-sector/
(Now, I recognize that due to social media, media and the internet in general the human brain gets bored after 3 minutes of reading, but I actually won’t be able to sleep if I don’t get this all out. Humour me. Please.)
Excerpt:
“A. Weaver: I’m going to continue on this theme, because there are a lot of assumptions that have been stated here as facts and conclusions from the report that were not conclusions. They were assumptions. Here are some others. I’m going to discuss the issue of importing power.
The minister has said that we have a surplus of energy produced over the last number of years. However, the large fluctuations that happen from year to year, based on water levels, can dramatically change how much power we produce.
In B.C. Hydro’s compliance filing form F17-19 revenue requirement application, it stated: “In the past ten years, there has been a difference of 12,000 gigawatt hours between low and high water…requiring surplus sales or market purchases.” There’s a slight missing word in there.
Anyway, the reality is the 12,000 gigawatt hours between high and low waters is the key number there. It’s a very big difference.
My question to the minister is this. I’d like to know if we were a net importer of energy in British Columbia over the last year? Yes or no? Or in any of the other previous years? Yes or no?
Hon. M. Mungall: Yes.
A. Weaver: Can the minister please tell us how much B.C. Hydro paid to import energy in March or this past quarter?
Hon. M. Mungall: We spent $54.9 million net importing energy in March.
A. Weaver: So we spent $54 million importing energy. We had too much energy surplus, that we didn’t need these projects. Very interesting.
Can the minister please provide how much power, on average, we have been importing over the last ten years?
Hon. M. Mungall: I did say that I would only provide the yes-or-no answers that the member wanted and the very short answers that he would like, but I feel like I’m doing a disservice to the British Columbians who might be watching this, as well as to the member to not inform him that the reason why there was an import of energy recently is due to low water levels.
For example, in my riding, I can look not too far down the hill and see exactly what those water levels are because the Kootenay Lake is, essentially, a reservoir for B.C. Hydro, along with Duncan Lake and so on. So those are the parts in my riding.
But generally, over the last decade, we’ve actually be exporting energy, not importing it.
A. Weaver: I’ll come to that shortly — maybe now. Pushing on, first I’d like to ask… The $54 million — what was the price that you were selling it at in March of this year?
Hon. M. Mungall: I think the member might have misspoken, but he can correct me if that’s not the case. I think he meant what we were buying it at, the price that we were buying it at.
A. Weaver: Sorry, yes.
Hon. M. Mungall: Okay. In March, we were buying it at $57 per megawatt hour, Canadian.
A. Weaver: So the average price was $57 per megawatt hour.
I understand that Powerex is the key trading arm of B.C. Hydro. Well, it is a trading arm of B.C. Hydro, but I know it’s separate. It imports and exports power when it’s financially advantageous to do so. It brings money directly into the provincial coffers — a good thing, I would suggest.
However, the power we import comes from Alberta and the U.S. I’m concerned that much of it, if not all of it, is brown power, despite the rhetoric we hear from this minister. That’s power created by burning natural gas or coal, which emits high levels of CO2. Over 80 percent of Alberta’s electricity is coal- or gas-generated. In Washington state, there are over a dozen coal and natural gas plants. Can the minister confirm that the majority of the power that B.C. Hydro, via Powerex, imports to B.C. is from natural gas– and coal-fired plants?
Hon. M. Mungall: I appreciate the member’s concern about exactly what type of power is coming to B.C. I know that he knows that electrons aren’t tagged one way or another, except in the situation with the Canadian entitlement, which is the Columbia River treaty. When we’re getting that power coming up from the United States, that is hydroelectric power. We know that that particular power is not generated by using coal or natural gas. In terms of in March, it’s hard to say whether it was natural gas–fired or coal-fired if it was not the Canadian entitlement, power that we were purchasing at that time. We were purchasing at that time, as I said earlier, because of low reservoirs.
That being said, it’s important to note that in Alberta, they’re increasing their wind generation. Solar is increasing as well in Alberta. Wind and solar as well below the 49th parallel is also increasing.
As more renewables come on line, we are obviously trading in more renewables. What I would say is it may be not the case for March, but in general, when we are buying power from other jurisdictions, it’s normally when they have an excess of wind, or an excess of solar, and they’re putting that on to the grid.
What is likely coming into B.C. is power generated from those avenues.
A. Weaver: I’m getting very close to calling for the resignation of this minister, hon. Chair, based on the lack of substance of these answers. This is a minister who clearly does not understand the file, clearly does not understand how electricity is produced and shipped. This is a minister who is responsible for the oversight of B.C. Hydro’s next review? It’s just shocking.
Let me explain to the minister how the power comes through. Coal and natural gas plants typically run, not on natural gas, 24-7. Powerex recognizes that, at night, coal power, which is going 24-7, is really cheap, because demand is low. But it doesn’t need to actually need to sell the power from it’s hydro dams, so it saves that for the day. We’re importing coal power and making money by shipping off clean power.
Now I am just as apt to criticize Weaver as Horgan, for going along with this Clean BC crap plan passed off by the NDP that relies on LNG ( we will talk about this in a moment), but after a series of very factual pointed questions to Mungall ( who is still not minister material and confirms this with her answer…), Mungall resorts to this:
Hon. M. Mungall: The member’s question is if using average water flows for predicting energy generation is good, if it’s the right way to go. I think that is a very important question, and it’s actually one that we’re going to be looking at in phase 2 of our B.C. Hydro review. It is going to, ultimately, feed into the integrated resource plan, the IRP.
As we continue on in this process, I very much appreciate the member’s knowledge on this file. I very much appreciate the member’s expertise in this area and that he is seeking more information. I am doing my best to offer it to him. I know he doesn’t like me personally, but I don’t know that personal attacks are helping the estimates process at all.
Note out to all those women in power trying to make waves for those coming behind. When the heat is on, don’t resort to the deflection above when you clearly can’t handle the truth being presented. Seriously. Women have been having babies and working in fields since time began. Don’t pull this ” He doesn’t like me, this is personal…” crap when called out for your lack of knowledge and flip on Hydro.
But I digress. So because of historic low flows, BC Hydro had to import electricity from brown sources like coal etc, and because of the continuing record drought impacting other watersheds to this day, I suspect we may very well be importing more brown electricity to this day. ( Clean BC is a bullshit plan. The NDP had a good plan called Power BC that didn’t include Site C, but dropped it the second they were in power)
So. The facts so far.
We know we have had summer drought for several years in southern reservoirs in BC.
We know that now we have had winter, spring and likely summer drought in both winter and spring reservoirs all over BC.
We know that BC Hydro has been importing brown electricity to meet demand this spring and likely will be throughout the summer, which is very much keeping the thermal coal industry in the US and Alberta in business.
But wait. There are still very much a couple of wild cards in all of this.
- Climate change, whether you believe humans can or cannot impact or contribute to its speed of change, is manifesting itself in extremes worldwide. Extreme drought in India as monsoons are delayed in arriving. Extreme heat in Europe as air streams stall. Extreme hail in Mexico in summer. Tundra melting in the Northwest Territories, Alaska and the Arctic. Just because you can’t see it in Metro Vancouver or anywhere else, does NOT mean it isn’t happening. And happening faster than any scientist anticipated. FACTS. ( Google it yourself. Use that brain)
2. Industrial usage of water, from mines, pulp mills and Horgans baby, LNG. Rio Tinto has already had to answer questions on how operations will impact water levels in the Nechako Reservoir. A plan to drain Williston reservoir to lower levels in 2016 in consideration of drought and ” other events” ( insert fracking) was stopped already in 2016, because it would leave both Hudson Hope and the town of Mackenzie high and dry:
“BC Hydro had considered reducing the reservoir’s minimum operating level from 2,147 feet above sea level to 2,140 as a backup plan to generate power in case of province-wide droughts, storms or other disruptions to its electricity transmission system.
Williston Lake, the seventh largest reservoir in the world, was created when BC Hydro built the W.A.C. Bennett dam on the Parsnip and Finlay Rivers in 1967. It is the lifeblood of the town of Mackenzie, pop. 3,500, which relies on its waters to operate three mills.
The possibility of lowering the lake by seven feet provoked panic in Mackenzie, with the mayor telling the Prince George Citizen the lowered water level threatened to “virtually shut down the town.”
According to BC Hydro though, they have it all covered:
“While BC Hydro is predicting higher water flows resulting from climate change over the long term, unpredictable weather patterns are expected to continue in the years ahead. BC Hydro is working to ensure its system performs safely across a wide range of conditions and extreme events
So interesting, because while yes, we do have extreme weather in fall and winter, now known as rain events, instead of rainfall, and we do have periods of massive snowfall and cold….because of ongoing drought and warmer weather conditions here in BC and the northern parts of Canada, we are still at a deficit overall come summer. What, the actual f*ck?
Which brings me to LNG in BC, the big reason Site C was continued by John Horgan, whose government doubled down on secrecy, making the amount of royalties paid secret to the public, and increased Clarks subsidies to the corporate hogs comprising LNG Canada’s consortium.
Horgans government has tried hard to push that this LNG plant will be the cleanest ever, implying it would be electrified with hydro power.… yet Trudeau recently gifted them corporate welfare to buy gas powered turbine to the tune of $220 million. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/feds-spend-275-million-on-40-billion-lng-canada-project-including-cash-to-buy-gas-turbines
But the enviro wing in BC won’t talk about that for fear of a Scheer ” We have no climate plan” government.
Is your head hurting yet? Because mine is. And thank you for sticking with me this far, but here is the punch line to what is a terrible joke on British Columbians.
Even as recently as May, media here in BC was pushing the line that LNG from BC was a huge boon, supplying China with infinite power ! Infinite! ( insert eyeroll because already 57% of China’s needs are met domestically, with reserves yet to be tapped)
Yet the reality is that just a week ago Bloomberg was reporting on what others have reported for some time: Thermal coal investment in developing countries eager for cheap energy is reaching an alltime high, with China leading investments.
Will BC LNG save the planet as many in the NDP here have claimed? Clean energy for all?
Just as we said under Clark, LNG Canada will not save the world with clean energy. It will simply displace where the pollution occurs worldwide while BC politicians pretend everything is awesome.
Site C will not power reliable energy to power homes in BC, it will at best, provide the water for fracking operations near by that will, by default, create the greatest risk to this dam being built in the most unstable portion of the valley. Every single talking point presented by Horgan, Heyman and Mungall is literally bullshit. And if my curse words offend you, too bad. At least manure fertilizes my garden. The crap the BC NDP spreads when it comes to LNG does more harm than good.
So where are we now in all this crap?
BC Hydro released a video a week ago on the diversion tunnels that should have been done long ago, showing they are nearly done. “ One step closer to completion” the article heralded.
Looks good to the uninformed, when the reality is that that north bank is still unstable… and always will be. Mankind has developed a weird sort of complex in being able to conquer nature, but in retrospect, ego has no place in engineering.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Which leads me to these very recent pics of Site C’s north bank. Willistons reservoir has been very low and boaters have been hardly able to get into the lake because the launches don’t go out far enough. Climate change IS unpredicatable, but in BC we have a documented repeat of drought conditions in many reservoir areas for years, so how BC hydro can claim forecasts in years yet to come call for increased rain, is a mystery.
We just don’t know. Period.
These new photos are telling. There is some major erosion showing in the middle of one of these shots above the excavator,not to mention elsewhere. We know their attempts at shotcrete ( thin,concrete solution sprayed to reinforce walls) has been unsuccessful.
They have been focused on their tunnel liner, rather than on their bank, and it shows to those of us with engineering knowledge. You should also note that the road around the corner of the office ( the large white building ) is now blocked off… and how much is this costing BC taxpayers? ( IS this why the BC govt that fought so hard against class size and composition concessions asked for by the Clark government, is now asking for the same concessions? )
I have always said that this dam could be built…. but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should, and at what cost? The silence of NDP mla’s who, I know without fail, see the climate change writing on the wall, is disappointing.
For the record, my view is that pursuing BC LNG for foreign export is a disaster that will only benefit the foreign corps getting ridiculous subsidies to pursue it. My view has on this hasn’t changed since Horgan and I talked by phone years ago about fracking in BC, when he promised me if the science didn’t support it, neither would he.
I know that there are many within the BC NDP party who opposed this publicly when Clark was in power.
I urge those same people to publicly resume their opposition now. We can use BC gas here in BC to help people on wood, or oil, or coal( yes this is still happening in BC) heat to get off oil furnaces. It may surprise many in metro Van whose votes the NDP rely on to know that in rural BC, oil heat and oil tanks/furnaces are still a thing.
China is not a country we can look to in meeting any target, period. Despite Jason Kenneys ” Git er done” oil mantra, even southern Alberta is taking care of their own – Raymond Alberta has become a net zero solar powered community.
This, is what opponents of Site C have been calling for here in BC for years. Community micro grids of solar or wind that reduce load on the main grid which isn’t producing as much electricity during times of low flow from drought.
It is what the BC NDPS former, pre-election platform called for in Power BC. Solar and wind community power grids that reduce the load on the main grid provided by what used to be a consistent power supply in BC.
My gosh, even Mungall admitted in the Hansard transcript above, that her own reservoir was at ridiculously low levels.
Yet BC continues along with Site C, at massive cost to taxpayer and Hydro ratepayers, for what reason? To justify Horgans decision to continue?
We can do better, and each of you know its possible…..
I know John Horgan won’t listen to me.
Nor will Trudeau, despite his PR on being a climate champion and water box thingy proponent. Scheer isn’t even in this race to nowhere, his plan is sooo bad.
But for the sake of all our children and grandchildren, I hope you will listen…and act. If you opposed LNG under Clark, you owe it to all of us to oppose it loudly now under Horgan.
Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 
The future of site c….https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-48527308?__twitter_impression=true
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https://www.dawsoncreekmirror.ca/opinion/letters/living-in-the-middle-of-a-gas-field-1.23794822
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More insult: BC Hydro is before the BC Utilities Commission to add permanent restrictions, red tape, and a huge price gouge to Net Metering -the rate used to add rooftop solar and small clean generators to our grid. Solar, which produces extremely well when we are in drought, was through the production roof in March, the month you note that Hydro imported $54.9M in “brown” energy. Our project was 50% above our predictions for that month.
It’s high time the BCUC steps up and uses it’s regulatory authority to sort out obvious utility nonsense and keep the shareholder/gov in check -for the public good and the safety of future generations.
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So good to see a familiar name 🙂 I hope you are well and have missed your thoughtful comments and posts.
It should also be pointed out that in the excerpt from Weaver I posted, Mungall talks about the low cost of Alberta’s solar and wind power…( oh the irony as we continue with the ever increasingly expensive site c)
It never ceases to amaze me how far politicians will go to justify a bad decision rather than simply just admitting a mistake and stopping it.
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So glad to see you back, and on Site C in particular! What’s the matter with the brain dead executive of BC Hydro? I, along with about 1,600 other taxpayers, have undertaken to provide ourselves of solar energy (1,600, out of 1,700,000 hydro users). I, and most of those other subscribers would gladly produce MORE energy for little or no cost to BC Hydro but they have restricted the production of solar power to the amount one uses personally. Never mind the infinite amount of energy produced by the sun. We are prohibited by BC Hydro from collecting it!
I can babble and rant infinitely on this subject, and I don’t pretend to be any sort of expert, but I do have a post kindergarten education, which apparently my ‘hero’ Horgan and his minions don’t.
Laila, you’re doing a great job. Non illegitmus carborundum!
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Thanks for the kind words John, missed you and hope you are well…sure sounds like it!!
I agree. It’s insane to not let people willing to pay for their own solar outfits, not feed back into the grid. Those who can afford to do it, are doing it and it’s insanity not to capitalize on it.
I would urge every community who can utilize solar to offset costs or get off grid in some manner, to do so, just like the story I linked to in Alberta.
Imagine that. Kenney country, going solar and wind.
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Laila wrote;
“The red cedars are dying on eastern Van Isle due to years of summer drought”
An acquaintance in Kitimat wrote:
“The snow pack is almost gone from our lower mountains, about 3 months ahead of schedule.
Hemlock trees are dying from Kitimat to Hazelton.
Around Kitimat, Elderberry are dying.
Salmonberry bushes are dead on top but leafing out from the bottom.
Alder trees are dying.
Cedar trees are starting to die.
Too many years without fall monsoons, comparatively dry sunny winters, and brutal hot spells in early spring.
The change in our regional weather patterns has me concerned. We’ve had hot spells before, but nothing has died in appreciable numbers…you could scan a whole mountainside and see no dead trees, unless they were fully mature trees that died of old age and are now snags.
This spring, Hemlocks are dying in the thousands.
What’s more unprecedented is that it’s impacting such a wide range of species from evergreens, to deciduous trees, and berry bushes.
Salmon and bears probably won’t like it much either.”
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I have two springs and an underground stream across the back of the property. For it to be dry 4 feet down is unusual. After 6 hours 1 cup managed to appear.
I really really worry what it will be like in 10 years, let alone 20 or 30.
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“I really really worry what it will be like in 10 years, let alone 20 or 30.”
Me as well and while I have never been a “the end of the world is nigh” kinda guy, that has changed.
I now feel we have probably reached the point of no return.
I could possibly see the 10 year mark, but for sure won’t see the 20 or 30.
I fear for those who have not yet even reached school age, who are as innocent as their parents are green hypocrites; hugging trees but using Charmin, one of the most eco-unfriendly tissues and having more plastic toys than Walmart.
I actually think Site C, if it doesn’t blow away as dust first, will become less and less about hydro power and more about potable water catchment…if there is any water left to catch.
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That’s my point with this post.
We know the water level in Williston cant be reduced because it leaves Hudson Hope and Mackenzie high and dry.
We know snowpack melt from the headwaters isnt going to manage replenishment which, as hydro identifies, rainwater is what they are counting on.
If we continued to have drought periods that are greater than the inflow, how much water will be left to fill the site C reservoir? And why would you bother? It will reduce flows so much downstream that the river will be decimated.
There are an increasing number of variables that weren’t considered here given the seed at which climate changes are occurring.
Including the water licenses of the growing fracking industry that’s gearing up thanks to John Horgans doubling down of Kitimat LnG. Where are they extracting water from? Streams and rivers and lakes that supply the Peace, and the Peace itself.
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Yep.
The fracking industry sucks clean clear water up.
Mixes it with sand, chemicals and “lubricant”. and pumps it by the millions of gallons beneath the water table…….where, theoretically, it will never rise and mix with the water table.
Its perfectly safe.
Anyone ever heard of “hot springs”?
This will come back to haunt us big time…..
As for Site C.
Mother Nature will take care of the billion dollar boondoggle…..one way or another.
Unfortunately BC taxpayers will, once again, be on the hook for the stubborn arrogance of politicians of all stripes.
Our democratic process at work.
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We must give thanks to BC Hydro for not being fooled by scientific and energy policy trend misdiagnosis. BC Hydro? It is infallible.
Unlike here, energy policy is just awful in Asia. Unlike here, Asian countries without the benefit of BC Hydro advice are making a terrible mistake. Or are they?
Concerning China, India and Japan`s “desperate” need for massive flows of BC`s LNG and Alberta`s undiluted bitumen, is it time to reexamine some basic assumptions? Such as the idea that Asia has zero strategic interest in protecting itself from energy dependency on The West?..
Doubt this strategic difference could create a crisis for Alberta and BC? Consider what India`s media is reporting.
https://www.indiatimes.com/auto/alternative/india-is-now-producing-the-world-s-cheapest-solar-power-prices-to-come-down-further-370259.html
“An earlier report by IRENA mentioned that by the end of 2018, the world has been gaining one third of its total power capacity from renewable sources – 2351 GW in numbers. In 2018, the world added a total of 171 GW of power capacity through renewable sources, close to half of India’s total production. This means, two years of such production growth can power a country like India completely on renewable sources for the distinct future.”
“Solar capacity alone increased by 94 GW to a new total of 480 GW, constituting 55% of all new renewable power generating capacity, thanks to countries like China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and the U.S. 44 gigawatts of these was added by China, five-times more than India which followed second.”
“Falling prices are a good indicator for countries across the globe that such wind and solar energy installations can now be opted for as a more cost-efficient option than the traditional coal or nuclear power plant. These traditional power generation ways have, as it is being seen a decline in use throughout Europe, North America and Oceania. Countries in Asia and Middle East still need to catch up though, discarding the currently used fossil fuels as the primary source of their energy generation.”
“Still declining cost”
“Several factors have led to this dramatic decrease in the installation cost of solar power plants in India. For starters, India imports low-priced solar panels from China, keeping the initial cost of the hardware low. Add that to the abundant land for such plants as well as the cheap labour required for the installation and the total comes out to be the lowest in the world.”
===========================
As David Anderson implied recently, if Asia says “no thanks” to buying our toxic fossil detritus where is this vast market for LNG or bitumen Mr Trudeau and Mr Horgan is about to supply?
And if Canada remains at odds with Huawei why would China accept any Alberta bitumen or BC LNG if Canada must be punished for being politically and economically “naive”?
Please advise.
https://www.irena.org
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A timely article by Charlie Smith in The Straight.
https://www.straight.com/news/1262386/solar-and-lng-prices-fall-sharply-which-could-have-dramatic-impact-british-columbias
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The power of the greedy robber baron corporate state is alive and well and not even skipping a beat. And the politicians are as usual dutifully bowing to kiss their asses, instead working for the people. Sounds like this is the story in short here, with the usual suspects doing their dirty handiwork. Will the people make change before the existing highly incompetent political class of leadership federally and provincially, along with the super greedy arrogant, but not really superior and intelligent as they think they are elites wreck the place completely for everyone.
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John Horgan had his special interests to take care of just as Clark had hers to take care of regarding Site C. Horgan knows it’s wrong but that doesn’t matter. Backs need to be rubbed. But try not to let Site C get at you Laila. That’s what i think the sleazy powers that be would like. You have carried a heavy load on this. It’s appreciated greatly, and you are doing a great service bringing it on once in awhile to us. Just say’in. Why let the dirty rats [ love James Cagney saying that] have the upper hand especially when there will be more nasty chapters coming on Site C BC Hydro IPP drama. Maybe some real good embarrassing shaming moments for Horggy boy and company. He has to deal with his own shitshow now and unf..k himself. Clark is gone and it’s his nightmare now. LNG could be just as bad too because the two projects are tied. Water for fracking definitely a first priority. Water for electricity, and for cars and this and that. Where is this endless water coming from It’s about the money now for the corporate pigs and elites at the trough and slave to it all Horgan or who ever is hoping for a leg up at election time. Back rubbing all round for each others benefit. Screw the people. Screw the land. It’s all about the Me me me now, from the corporate state and the politicians party interests and special interests, instead of the peoples interests and other interests in clean sustainable power. Nope theres still gold to get from the pillaging. Something a good portion of media doesn’t talk about much, if any. Well finished with the rant. Better stop now and have coffee.
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Horgan could have stopped Site C and put much of the money to the right thing which is a sustainable clean energy retooling build with huge employment numbers to carry it out and maintain it, basically for good. Instead he did the very wrong thing, which he knows was wrong. And one which has a dead end on a very short road. The motto of politicians. Do what’s right for the special interests, but not which is right for the future.
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It is good to see you writing again and giving the mainstream media grief.
With the NDP, it is all about jobs, jobs, jobs, or should I say, union jobs, jobs, jobs.
Every major corporation, such as SNC Lavalin, has whispered sweet nothings in Horgan’s and the NDP’s ear, they can provide union jobs, jobs, jobs. Thus the NDP has sold out everyone to secure jobs, but it gets worse.
The NDP hare so stale dated that they still believe throwing money at transit projects will win them votes, well it ain’t.
Right now, the MoT is planning a major highway through the Malahat, yet there is the E&N rotting away, because Horgan is anti rail (so is Carole James for that matter), hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent on a major highway through a rather delicate ecological area, rather than adapting the E&N to the 21st century and operate a frequent DMU/EMU service, providing an affordable alternative to the car.
Site C is more of the same, dated power generation while solar and thermal options are all but ignored. Lots of Union jobs, jobs, jobs building a dam, don’t ya know.
Sadly, the NDP have become Liberal clones, only slightly less corrupt, but give them time, the arrogance of Horgan, Eby and James is approaching old photo-op herself!
Our once great province, is being brought to its knees but odious politicians, from corrupted politcal parties, who put friends and insiders first.
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All I know is that in June when crossing the bridge over the Nanaimo river the water level was about as low as it was or lower than at the end of the previous 3 summers. . We had a dry winter, dry spring, and today it finally rained, like more than a few drops.
We need solar energy and if people want to install it on their homes and sell their excess to the grid they ought to be encouraged. Saw the news about the Alberta town! Great news. Clearly demonstrates what people can do.
A few years ago Iran started giving their citizens rebates if they switched to solar energy. :That might tell you something.
If people study history they will see there hve been times when whole societies moved due to a lack of water in an area. it can just happen. Now in times of fewer humans on earth, that was easy, today not so much. now we also have the added problem of human caused water shortages……….we might want to start looking at how we deal with water, how we can store it on our own property. Saw a great article a couple of years ago where a couple built a vacation home off grid, with hot tubs and 10 inches of rain a year. They gathered in via their roof and stored it in tanks. We might want to do something similar.
the Gulf Islands have always been classified as having a Meditteranian climate, the only place in the world outside of the Mediterianian. Its because of the little rain the Gulf Islands gets. It would appear that lack of rain in the Gulf Ilsands is starting to spread to Vancouver Island and as our population grows, we will need more water or cities need to stop issuing building permits
You can live with out oil, but 3 days or more of no water, you’re dead.
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Just a note.
An acquaintance of mine was trying to market a device that attached to the roof of a house where it generates both solar and wind power via a small turbine. Now this device will not power an entire house, but power selected outlets and with a battery back up it can provide basic power needs. This is important as our last blackout lasted 3 days!
The cost is around $15K but could reduce power consumption by 25%.
If power is not consumed it is sent to the grid.
He is getting nothing but grief from Hydro and the current government and now has pulled up stakes and gone to California.
This is how the NDP view power.
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Evil Eye
In politics nothing travels farther faster than Very Bad Ideas.
Your inventive friend “is getting nothing but grief from Hydro and the current government and now has pulled up stakes and gone to California.”
What you describe happened in Nevada. It started like this…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/13/solar-panel-energy-power-company-nevada
“Although Nevada is one of the sunniest places in the world, there has recently been a dark cloud hovering over the rooftop solar industry in the state. Just before Christmas, Nevada’s public utility commission (PUC) gave the state’s only power company, NV Energy, permission to charge higher rates and fees to solar panel users – a move that immediately shattered the rooftop solar industry’s business model. ”
The scandal led to widespread green tech bankruptcies and lawsuits. Which led to…
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/nevada-supreme-court-blocks-rooftop-solar-referendum#gs.obyven
“The Nevada Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision on Thursday that blocks constituents from voting to restore favorable rates to rooftop solar customers. The decision puts increased pressure on lawmakers to implement a policy change during the next legislative session.”
“The decision addresses a ballot initiative championed by the Bring Back Solar Alliance, a rooftop solar advocacy coalition backed by SolarCity. The referendum sought to repeal a piece of law that allowed utility regulators to impose higher fees on home solar customers.”
“Regulators approved the new tariff rate in late December. The order increased the fixed service charge for net-metered solar customers, and gradually lowered compensation for net excess solar generation from the retail rate to the wholesale rate for electricity over four years. The changes took effect on January 1, 2016 and promptly brought the rooftop solar market in the state to a standstill, causing companies to cut jobs. The changes were applied retroactively to all net-metered solar customers, eliciting a strong backlash from solar companies and consumer groups. ”
“In February, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada rejected requests from NV Energy and solar advocates to approve a 20-year grandfathering period for Nevada’s roughly 32,000 existing solar customers (previous estimates put the number at 18,000). Instead, regulators voted unanimously to transition rooftop solar customers onto the contentious new rate plan over 12 years, instead of the initially proposed four. ”
And then… according to the financial media, it all became wonderful again.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-25/massive-solar-storage-project-planned-for-the-nevada-desert
“NV Energy Inc., the Nevada utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., agreed to buy power from three massive solar farms equipped with big batteries in the Nevada desert. ”
“The projects mark one of the the biggest expansions of solar and storage ever proposed in the U.S. Combined, they’ll produce enough power to supply a city the size of Newark, New Jersey, according to BloombergNEF. ”
“Clean-power companies are racing to develop solar projects with batteries capable of providing grids with power after sundown. A key reason is more and more states — including Nevada — have committed to ban fossil fuels from power generation over the next several decades, but they’ll need more than intermittent solar and wind power to do it. Solar complemented by energy storage can help smooth and extend output from panels to make them operate more like coal or gas plants. ”
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Sounds like your acquaintance is trying to compete with the BC Hydro corporate criminal cartel. They don’t want that. Horgan and his people will probably just sit on their cowardly duffs and be jerks, because their big corporate robbers buddies are the ones in charge. You’re friend is an admirable person for being one who wants to make a difference for humankind but is being stifled by those scummy hypocrites who talk the talk about climate change, climate emergency the change to green efficient power but don’t walk the walk. Your friend should get it into a dependable news arena and into the public area and challenge those dirt bags in the open. I hope he is successful in California though. Society needs people like your friend.
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I subscribe to the Alaska Highway News a local paper which publishes a few times a week and usually has some very interesting news we don’t read/hear about in the lower mainland or Vancouver island. today’s addition has a “lovely” article about how CISIS spied on environmentalists who were protesting pipelines. it is alleged CISIS then “shared’ that information with the corporations. that is never a good thing. CISIS does not work for corporations. its there to protect the country against terrorism. Now the last time I checked environmentalists were not terrorists or terrorists in training. Environmentalists are you, me, our friends, neighbours, and some of the relatives. We have a right to not be spied on by CISIS. CISIS is there to protect Canada and is paid for by we the taxpayers. they do not have the right to share information with corporate interests. Perhaps it is time we all wrote our M.P.s, Cabinet Minister responsible, etc. If they spied on us, then they spied on the leader of the Green Party also. That is simply is not on.
it maybe time for people to apply to see what the government of Canada has on you and me.
My concern is if they spy for oil/gas companies, who else do they spy for?
CISIS needs to understand this is not Russia and this is not the U.S.A.
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If a catastrophic failure ever happened with Site C. Then Horgan will have to wear it. He could have stopped it, but he was to much of a coward to do so, because he caved to the the all powerful corporate special interest power structure. Even if it doesn’t fail, then he will still have bear the an awful weight of it being such a sqaundering of the public purse. Oh well maybe it’ll be just another Premier that goes down in disgrace. Nothing new. It’s still not to late, but oh well can’t do much when the emporor has no power.
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Thank you Laila for keeping me up on issues in and around resource management in B.C.
The information is complex, ever changing and fraught with peril going forward.
On the politics though, and in particular B.C., the need for better policy and better choices has never been greater for the future health of our environment and economy. Thank you for what you do. You inform, educate and most importantly, remind all of us of our personal responsibility to make better choices.
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Thank you for the kind words Mike. Always appreciated.
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Well said Mike.
Couldn’t agree more with your comment.
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Important read here friends, which really picks up on the drought aspect of dams not being able to produce in ongoing drought, like happened this year at several dams that werent producing due to low reservoir levels.
Turns out I wasnt wrong and the govt is reworking plans to address this, although hydro insists it’s all good.
More than ever Govt needs to be promoting and encouraging smaller community solar farms, solar in new developments shared between owners etc, to reduce draw on the main grid and to ensure self sufficiency in times where fire or storms result in power outages.
A very well researched article here.
https://www.burnabynow.com/investigation-cleanbc-climate-change-electrification-plan-may-not-hold-water-1.23986108?fbclid=IwAR3issWBY8l8KA0uNSGHEMF2ea731-KAAJzyBPixkPpZwhDOlhX3u9m-fGY
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