We can say thank you to our provincial government for our hydro rates going up. It was our provincial government which forced BC Hydro into money-losing long-term contracts with private power producers, even though BC Hydro's own facilities were under-utilized.
It was our provincial government which forced BC Hydro into a highly unpopular and expensive (rumored to cost $1 billion) smart meter program. It is our provincial government which is forcing BC Hydro into the biggest money loser of them all, Site C. BC Hydro's own figures show that Site C's power will cost upward of 10 cents per kilowatt hour and industrial users currently pay less than 4 cents per kwh.
What is more, the cost of Site C power crucially depends on the interest BC Hydro will have to pay to service the $8 billion in debt accrued to finance Site
C. Should interest rates rise, Site C power will cost much more than 10 cents per kwh. So no matter how one looks at it, Site C will be a huge money loser that could push BC Hydro one step closer to bankruptcy - unless of course, residential users pay much higher rates to subsidize industrial users.
Site C is also completely unnecessary since the natural gas liquefaction plants could generate their own power using gas turbines at a cost of around 7 cents per kwh.
It is indeed shocking that there is no public outcry denouncing the planned flooding of one of the most scenic valleys in our beautiful province, destroying thousands of acres of the most fertile farmland, and, in the process, driving up our residential power rates to subsidize large industrial users.
Reimar Kroecher North Vancouver
