Well, it took a while, but Canwest is finally seeing the light, so to speak…

From The Province – Feb 25, 2011

B.C. Hydro’s application to the B.C. Utilities Commission to hike
electricity bills by more than 50 per cent over the next five years is
more evidence that something is terribly wrong with the way the company
and the B.C. Liberals are managing power generation in this province.

Hydro
says it needs $6 billion to upgrade aging infrastructure, which is
probably beyond debate. But casually jacking up the electricity bills of
B.C. residents and businesses at rates well in excess of inflation is
wrong, particularly when our economy has not fully recovered from the
recession.

A large part of the problem at Hydro is the government
insistence that it pursue costly private, run-of-river projects and
other so-called “green” initiatives. A look in Hydro’s 2010 annual
report shows the folly of this approach.

It cost Hydro $7.19 to
produce a megawatt hour of electricity with its large dams last year
when power from independent power producers cost $63.85 -nine times as
much.

While its conservation initiatives are reasonable, Hydro and
its political meddlers in Victoria should quit pursuing expensive
alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and further run-of-river,
and expand production of the green energy we’ve used for decades -cheap
power from large dams.

Hydro should revert to its traditional
role, the reason it’s always been the jewel of B.C. Crown corporations,
by providing the lowest-cost power that will drive prosperity in B.C.