No, it was always "intended to be this way" --- all it took was to elect far right wing neo-conservative governments posing as old style Liberals.
Their economic objectives have always been different from that of consumers and those of us up here who live and make a living in this cold cold climate.

What isn't going up? I know, wages.

How do socialists try to scare people? They throw out terms like right wing and neo-con.

Time to start buying solar panels and small windmills so we can make our own electricity.

Rates here in BC are low to begin with. I had to pay 50 bucks a month in Alberta for electricity in my 1 bedroom apartment and I only pay 42 bucks a month for my house here. I didn't have anywhere near the amount of appliances and devices plugged in at my apartment as I do in my house.

That said I certainly wouldn't want my bill to quadruple just to feed power to the US.

People have to realise that we just aren't like the Americans as much as we think we are. Most folks I know here in Canada don't worship the almighty dollar like they do down south. The worst thing that has happened to us up here is the privatization of or public utilities so they can make profits and pay dividends like an American company. These utilities were once owned by us and subsidized through our taxes to keep our rates down. However once the 'make a profit' mantra spread its net to the Government we were left high and dry and prices begin to increase.

Natural gas, telephone, BC rail, ICBC....these companies were owned by us once.....

OK so lets destroy our valleys (Kinbasket, Duncan, Williston) with huge environmental disasters- whose gonna argue that these are nice places- so that we can have cheap power so we can have "way more appliances plugged in at less price". Cheap power creates waste period.

We in BC have power that is subsidized. Power that could be sold to people who need clean power. Do you think the US is in a conspiracy to jack up our power rates? No they need it bad. We have it. They aren't going to tax it like our softwood. BC Hydro can't develop anything cost effectively.(with the exception of another disaster site C).

So anti-liberal bashers, take one for your kids and get behind more expensive power. If you play it right you will retire on it. If you keep your old appliances you will just be poorer with only yourself to blame.
IMHO

I can only say ...SITE C! Jeez Louise! Anyway, environmentalists ought to rejoice and cry at the same time. Rjoice because increased prices are the only real way to get people to conserve. Weep because as long as electricity is expensive, fossil fuels will be chosen instead.
By the way, the valleys you mention are still there, even if they are under a (beautiful) lake.

Did you see in the news recently how ACCENTURE has clutched her tainted skirts and backed away from sponsoring Tiger Woods anymore because he might ... ahem! ... might sully their image? [Cue the maniacal laughter ... !]

ACCENTURE, poster boy for corporate fraud ... ACCENTURE which relocated to the Caymen Islands after a bit of trouble in the U.S. ... ACCENTURE which crippled BC Hydro so that it could no longer provide clean electricity at lowest prices to its shareholders: the people of BC.

A lake that moves up and down hundreds of feet a year, eroding further every year, nothing grows, or can grow, dust storms, in the case of Duncan lake it's just a bunch of floating sticks. Personally I like these lakes as they have no crowds, but my point is that today they would never get an EIA certificate. Not to mention the people who were moved without consultation.
And in terms of expensive electricity, the more it costs the better the economics for all the other types. Cheap power ties us to coal.

Telus and is Forrunner BC Tel never was owned by the Government, it startet out as the New Westminster Phone Company later became BC Tel, then later on owned by Anglo-
Canadian in Quebec witch in turn was owned by the Yanks, BC Hydro used to be BC Electric ,taken over by WAC Bennet, same with the Blackball Ferry also taken over by Bennet.One more Thing ,the only way to check your Hydro Bill is, how much you pay per KWH (about 8 Cent).

So which one of you is a High voltage Power P. Eng?
Which of you has actually worked on the smart grid being developed for North America?
Has any of these posters worked any where near the IPP projects like some of the RoR?

Site C is dead. It will not go anywhere for 2 main reasons.
The local aboriginals don't want to move and they now know how to make a lot of media noise now.
The environmental impact (the destruction of another valley) is too much and that negative press cannot be overcome today.

Basically a homeowner on a normal city lot cannot capitalize on wind power. The reason is city ordinance. To have a wind tower on your property, the base of the tower must be located 1.5 times the height of the tower to the highest point the blade.
If one were to use the 10 meter tower available from Canadian tire, with the 3 meter blades of the 900 watt wind generator, the tower would have to be located 11.5 meters times 1.5 equals 17.5 meters from any boundary of your 15 meter wide lot.

Gordon Campbell and his corporation,aka the B.C.government,likes these run of the river projects.
He likes them a lot!
Campbell likes any kind of private power project.
So..in a nutshell..these private companies will sell the power they generate back to the B.C Hydro grid.
Hydro will pay considerably more for that power than they would to generate their own power.
The end result is that the consumer will also pay more.
Much more.
The real mystery is what's in it for Campbell?
Why does he like this concept so much?
Something stinks...bigtime!

My electric bill is even less than Mercenary's. $30 per month in the summer going up to just uner $40/month in the winter, all inclusive.

Less than $400/year.

Since my gas bill is considerably higher, I am much more concerned about that. In fact, at the current rate of electricity, it would actually be worthwhile to go electric for heating with a heat pump.

And it would be a green thing to do.

Hydro... I find this interesting, the plant that I work at has a "baseline" for power usage..If we go over the baseline we get charged more for usage.. But if you cut back your power draw then your baseline will drop so its best not to let the baseline drop as it will cost more in the long run. Nice way that Hydro makes companies use more power to keep from lowering baseline.

Cupricity says "BC Hydro can't develop anything cost effectively.(with the exception of another disaster site C)." Can he back that up or is he just blowing wind. Hydro has the third lowest power rate in north america. The lowest are Quebec and manitoba. Cheap hydro is the answer and they are all government owned. Now Campbell and his buds have let out bery expensive contracts to IPP's and windfarms. If that is not a subsidy I don't know what is. These are private companies and has anyone ever seen a private company with government ties ever survive without a taxpayer handout.

Here is a little know fact about windfarms that those opposed to flooding a valley don't know. A farm producing 500 megawatts will cover about 8000 acres. Think of all the hills and ridges covered with wind generaters. GMS up in Hudson Hope can produce around 2500 mw's. Sooo a windfarm to equal GMS will cover about 40,000 acres. Now think of the steel, concrete, transmission lines, roads that will be required. Another thing a windfarm only averages 30% of its rating over a year. The wind don't always blow. Notice today very cold, no wind just when a farm would need it most.

For the future think nukes.

First off, it is called BC Hydro because that is how virtually all the electricity was initially generated in BC. A very small portion was generated using coal, and a few remote communities use diesel generators.

No single solution will address all issues of sufficient power. We have existing dams that are able to provide adequate domestic power. It is because we are selling electricity to California that we are at an energy deficit.

The green guy inside does not want to see site C. Too much bad history with these projects and if it is not done right with a proper clear cut before the dam is built, we will end up with another Williston reservoir.

RoR IMO is a good use of moving water. Provided that it is above any fish bearing areas such as above a water fall. This could be done all the way up the major rivers in this province with little stations every few kilometers.

Wind is IMO a great supplementary source. As has been stated, it is very hard to tame the wild wind. It can only add marginal power. with Haida Quay, I think kudos are in order. Why they are not also testing wave or tidal generation is beyond me.

With our coast line, why is not more done with tidal and wave generation?

A very big challenge for homeowners to initiate their own micro generation by wind or solar is BC hydro itself. The system is setup to prevent such an occurrence. Just try to feed into the grid and see what a bureaucratic nightmare it is. The technology exists and is readily available that will monitor not just what is consumed, but also what is fed to the grid for capacitance. Look at the Ontario couple that spent over $80,000, to do just that and the nightmare of Ontario power putting up every imaginable road block.

Another case of monopolistic practices preventing us as a society from advancing.

saveourrivers.ca

Moving water or run of the river plants. These get most of their water during the spring melt and fall rains on the coast, therefor lots of geneation. This is when Hydro also has lots of generation. Lots of generation equals low selling price. Now Hydro has a problem low selling price and very high buying price from IPP's that the fiberals have saddled them, us with. For those that like pristine wilderness just think of all the dams, diversions, buildings, roads and transmission lines required for these IPP's

Wave or tidal very expensive and beset with lots of technical problems. Not developed to any degree anywhere in the world. Look at the furor with fishfarms. Just imagine generating plants all over the coast and there would have to be a lot of them. With them is also the issue of roads and transmission lines.

There is no easy answer but nukes may be the way of the future. Very small foorprint for power produced. No pollution.
France gets 80% of its power from nukes.

I have a 1400 square foot house with a garage and only pay $30 a month right now for my hydro. I have a friend that lives in a bachelor suit apartment off Tabor that has electric hot water and heat, and he pays a $100 a month... both on equal payments. I have no idea why the big difference because I leave lights on all the time and both are BC Hydro, but the house to apartment comparison is not always the best one even though an apartment is only a fraction of the size of a house.

That said the IPP's involving our water resources should never be allowed. Hydro generation should be a public utility to protect the value of the water resource to all its stakeholders regardless of the American market for power.

I do however think IPP's in the area of hog and wind, and solar and such should be encouraged, but that their generation should be the first that the Americans have to buy, so that the people of BC can still have first rights to the cheaper generation from our hydro resources.