McKee on IPPs

Press release —

IPPs: A Key Part of BC’s Green Future.

FACT: Independent Power Projects (IPPs) have been part of BC’s energy grid since the late 1980s.

FACT:  All BC Hydro contracts with IPP’s must be approved by the independent BC Utilities Commission to ensure they are cost-effective and consistent with the public interest.

FACT: IPPs have a low carbon footprint and will help wean the province away from dependence on power imported from coal-fired generating plans in Alberta and the United States.

FACT: IPPs create the kind of Green Economy jobs that should be celebrated — not condemned.

FACT: Carole James and the NDP are once again playing fast and loose with the facts through a fear-mongering propaganda campaign intended to bamboozle the public.

Many British Columbians believe – and wrongly so – that BC Hydro produces all of the electrical power needed to service its ratepayers. That’s definitely not true. In fact, for seven of the last 10 years we have been importing a great deal of our electricity from coal-fired generating plants in Alberta and the United States to keep our lights on.

Here are some relevant stats: In 2004 we imported 10% of our needs, about 5,500 gigawatt hours; in 2005 we imported 13%, about 7,000 gigawatt hours. That is certain to go up. BC Hydro has stated that even with conservation measures, our demand for electricity is expected to grow by 45% over the next 20 years and that new sources of generation must be provided by BC Hydro and by IPPs.

Recognizing this, the BC Liberals have committed the province to becoming self-sufficient by 2016 and that at least 90 % of all new generation comes from clean sources.

How can we achieve those goals? The Energy Plan put out in 2007 by this government has BC Hydro working on a three-pronged approach —buy more, build more and conserve more.  IPPs, which take advantage of British Columbia’s vast hydro-electric, biomass and wind potential, are a key part of that solution.

More than 1,100 workers are currently employed on 48 operating projects and another 15 projects under construction. These projects represent an estimated $5.4 billion in capital investments (at 2008 values).  BC Hydro’s current Calls for Power – based on 2008 cost levels per megawatt and net of estimated attrition – are estimated to result in an additional $3.8 billion in new capital investment.

The impact on B.C.’s Gross Domestic Product including direct, indirect and induced effects is estimated at $3 billion with 40,000 person-years of construction employment for all IPP projects including 2008 Calls.

Sustainable. Green. Economical. Those are words that can accurately be applied to the IPPs now being built in British Columbia. Once upon a time even the NDP believed that. Here’s what the NDP’s then-employment and investment minister Gordon Wilson stated: “Small hydro projects successfully balance environmental sustainability with economic growth.” And here’s NDP Energy Minister Anne Edwards in 1992: “Independent producers have a big role to play in making sure we reach those goals” of low environmental impacts, regional economic benefits and long-term sustainability… Independent power producers will be a source of expertise and innovation to keep B.C.’s electricity sector efficient and competitive.”

So why is the NDP now campaigning against the IPPs — even those that are supported by local communities and First Nations?

Carole James and the NDP have one objective — to eliminate the IPP industry in BC for nothing more than ideological reasons. As a result, our economy and our environment will pay the ultimate price.

The NDP’s campaign against IPPs is perplexing unless one understands that it is all about supporting those who regard any change to BC Hydro’s traditional operations as a plot to privatize BC Hydro. And that is one thing the BC Liberals’ Energy Plan does not do.

No less an authority than the David Suzuki Foundation has supported IPP development in BC. The foundation’s Submission to the BC Energy Policy Development Task Force in 2001 stated;

In order to support the renewable energy industry, the BC government should encourage the development of low impact renewable sources of electricity such as wind, solar and micro-hydro through specific initiatives such as net metering and portfolio standards. These will encourage utilities to purchase renewable energy, or to encourage producers to build new projects.

By nurturing a provincial renewable energy industry, British Columbia will be well positioned to take advantage of emerging energy markets worldwide.

… potential mechanisms for taking advantage of renewable energy in British Columbia. These include renewable energy portfolio standards, which require electrical utilities to purchase renewable energy; environmental cost adders, which equalize the cost of renewable energy sources; tax rebates and incentives for renewable electricity producers…

To date, BC Hydro has committed to acquiring up to 10 per cent of its new resources from small scale renewable energy projects, if they are commercially competitive and cost effective. One can only assume that any utility would purchase all of its energy from these sources if it met these criteria, since they have no future greenhouse gas liability.

Ours is an industrial civilization that depends on power to provide people with the jobs, services and consumer products they need and want. Where will we get the power we need in a Green and sustainable manner?

In a column written for the Victoria Times Colonist, independent fisheries biologist Glenn Wagner said he hopes “that a majority of people choose solutions such as run-of-river and wind energy instead of the alternatives of oil and coal that destroy vast expanses of habitat and severely pollute our land, water, and atmosphere.”

So do all thoughtful British Columbians. Don’t be swayed by Carole James and the NDP propaganda machine.

April 10, 2009
Mark McKee
BC Liberal Candidate