The trouble with talking about simple issues concerning private power is that their evil is so egregious people have trouble believing that any government would tolerate it. While one can understand that corporations don’t give a damn about the environment or, indeed, the well being of British Columbians, surely the government cares! Doesn’t it?

In a moment, we will get to a youtube video of BC Liberal Finance Minister Colin Hansen that contains so many falsehoods it would make Pinnochio blush! But first, let me lay out here the myths peddled by Hansen, Premier Campbell, and their private power pals – and the real facts that contradict them.

UNTRUE: BC is a net importer of power. What the premier does is prove again that while figures don’t lie, liars can sure as hell figure. Campbell uses BC Hydro’s figures and neatly avoids the fact that it’s not the only major provider of energy – if you include Alcan, Teck Cominco and Fortis, according to the National Energy Board, which supervises power sales and purchases, BC is most often a net exporter of power. It does import from Alberta and Washington sometimes, but does that in off-peak periods, then flips it back to them at peak periods for a very large profit. It can do this because it can “store electricity” in the form of water in its large public reservoirs.

UNTRUE: In order for BC to be energy self sufficient, it needs private power production. This is an egregious falsehood. The vast majority of private power can only be produced during the spring run-off period – a time when BC Hydro has plenty of power and full reservoirs. During the winter months, when BC Hydro sometimes has need of power most of these private power projects can’t provide it.

UNTRUE: BC Hydro depends on dirty power from Burrard Thermal. When the public’s supposedly independent (no more, thanks to Campbell) energy watchdog, the BC Utilities Commission, rejected his latest private power call for being “not in the public interest,” Campbell promptly steamrolled over our regulator. He and his ilk falsely claimed BC Hydro was depending too much on Burrard Thermal, and, thus, should be buying more private power instead. For starters, BC Hydro only uses Burrard Thermal a few days out of the year as back-up power, so families don’t freeze in their homes when other power sources unexpectedly go down. Campbell has also deliberately saddled BC Hydro with onerous “worst case scenario” requirements to have far more power than it needs – and on top of that to have even more “insurance” power – all to justify more private power contracts. Campbell has no intention to stop using Burrard Thermal! The only thing that has changed is that BC Hydro now has to pretend Burrard doesn’t exist on its books, so as to falsely boost its needs for private power! What’s more, besides hydro power, natural gas, which Burrard Thermal uses, is cleaner than any other source of firm energy (excepting perhaps geothermal). It thus makes abundant good sense to keep Burrard Thermal as backup power for the few days in the year when BC Hydro needs electricity.

UNTRUE: Private power plants are “green”. This is a falsehood that even Pinocchio in his prime wouldn’t utter. While each plant is different, they all have an enormous, often devastating effect on rivers and their ecology. Fish in rivers are the canary in the mine. Power plants badly silt the river when being built; they require roads and transmission lines that mean clear cuts. The building and operation of private power plants severely damage fish, thus impacting heavily on bears, eagles and other wildlife upon which the entire ecology depends.
After they’re built there is a permanent siphoning of up to 90% of the flow into a tunnel, not to come back to the riverbed for many kilometers. This means that the river, for all intents and purposes, simply doesn’t exist for the length of the diversion. Sometimes the water never comes back but is simply dumped into a convenient lake.

We must also bear in mind that it’s not only salmon runs we’re concerned about but also the resident Bull Trout, Dolly Varden, Rainbows and Cutthroat. This point is glossed over by governments and industry.

This is why other jurisdictions, like California, do not consider BC’s private river power projects “green”.

UNTRUE: Private power plants provide jobs. The fact is that the employment is confined to the building of the plant and according to Don McInnes of General Electric/Plutonic, the largest private power player in BC, only about a third of the labour force will be local. Once it’s completed, the facility is fully computerized – yielding a few jobs at best.

Here are the facts

FACT: BC Hydro is forced by the government to enter into contracts with private power companies at double or more than Hydro can sell that power for.

FACT: Because Hydro can’t use most of the private energy when it’s created, since it doesn’t need it, it must export the power at a 50% loss or higher. Premier Campbell has given us a new business technique – buy high and sell low!

FACT: Because BC Hydro must pay these unconscionable amounts to private power companies, it will not be able to pay its annual dividend of 100s of million dollars (nearly one billion a few years ago) into the provincial treasury where it goes into health, education, social programs etc.

FACT: The dividend paid annually by BC Hydro, that went into health, schools and social programs will now be going to shareholders of large corporations including General Electric and its largest shareholder, Warren Buffett.
Think about that when the government hasn’t enough money to look after its health and education obligations – think about it when you see the mentally ill, deprived of assistance, and sleeping under bridges…

FACT: BC Hydro will raise electricity costs dramatically (over 50% already in just a five year period – the mere tip of the ice berg). It must or else it goes broke. You can only take on so many Campbell-dictated sweetheart deals with private power producers for so long before you either pick up your losses from the citizenry and industry, or go broke. Either way the taxpayer loses, big time!

FACT: All our energy needs for as far ahead as we can see can, according to BC Hydro, be produced through conservation, upgrade of present facilities, new facilities on flood control dams and by taking back the power we’re entitled under the Columbia River Treaty. Moreover, because, as noted above, private power is produced when BC Hydro can’t use it, even if we did need more power it sure as hell won’t come from private power!

It must always be borne in mind that neither the governments nor industry give a damn about the environmental issues and their answers must be listened to in that light. They are not impartial judges trying to do justice but interested parties flogging a program they badly want.
To see what I mean, I invite you hear what Finance Minister Colin Hansen, the second most powerful member of Cabinet has to say.

The Finance Minister simply put, either lies through his teeth or is as dumb as a sack full of hammers.

He alleges that the province is a net importer of power (false), that private power is needed (false), that they are best to provide small scale power (false), that “run of river” projects are small (false), that the river continues to run at “its normal stream” (false).

In 1:51 minutes BC’s Finance Minister manages to produce five out and out falsehoods!

Simply put, the Campbell energy “plan” is one falsehood piled upon another.