Flogging Our Water

SFU adjunct professor John Calvert, a BC Citizens for Public Power representative on BC Hydro’s 2005 integrated electricity planning committee, told the Georgia Straight that for a corporation, a B.C. water licence costs little more than lunch money. “These sites may generate millions or tens of millions of revenue annually,” Calvert said. “Yet the water-licence fee for the largest-capacity run-of-the-river project—-one that generates more than 20 megawatts—-is capped at $10,000. Smaller facilities of less than 20 megawatts pay $5,000.” These power projects usually involve diverting part of a river to a generating facility, and then returning water to the streambed. Unlike large hydroelectric dams, run-of-the-river projects do not involve flooding areas to create large reservoirs. The province charges licence holders separately for the water actually used, based on the amount of energy generated. “But the charge is not based on the price of that energy,” Calvert explained. “For smaller projects, the rate is $1.086 per megawatt-hour. Larger projects pay $5.069 per megawatt-hour—regardless of the price” of energy. The Gordon Campbell Liberals support the creation of a continental energy market, and they’re using BC Hydro (already broken up to facilitate energy exports) as a vehicle to help accomplish this. The Independent Power Producers Association of BC represents private-power developers who have been handed a virtual monopoly on the creation of new electricity in B.C. through the provincial government’s 2002 energy plan. IPPBC members stand to make billions over the next couple of decades selling power—not just to BC Hydro and to the province, but to American buyers who may pay more for it. BC Hydro is already paying almost $450 million a year in energy purchases from the private sector. http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=16584 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on March 19, 2006]

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