Neufeld Says Site C; is Not a Done Deal

Thursday, June 01, 2006 03:59 AM

B.C.’s population is growing, the economy is booming, and those two factors mean the demand for energy will increase. But does it mean the Site "C" dam on the Peace River is a go?

The Provincial Minister of Energy, Richard Neufeld, says B.C. has reached a crossroads as it is estimated our energy consumption will increase by 25 - 40% over the next 20 years. "There is a lot of work to be done, we know that, and there are some tough decisions that we have to make, as a public as a government, we’re going to have to make some of those tough decisions on how we move forward today." said Neufeld. He says the process for that proposed project has been complex "Building dams on rivers today is probably a bit tougher than it was in the 1960’s...well, not just a bit, a whole bunch."

Right now, B.C. is a net importer of electricity, as we are consuming more than we produce. Still, Neufeld says Site "C" does not yet have the green light "I have often said to many people, if the Province were actually to decide at some point, and we haven’t made that decision yet, to move ahead with the Site C which would generate about 900 mega watts of electricity and would produce about 4,000 GWh of energy, there would only be two jurisdictions in the world building large hydro-electric facilities, that would be B.C. and China."

The project may indeed be approved one day, but Neufeld would like to see a new energy plan that encompasses a broad range of energy production ideas, "When I say we will have to make some tough decisions we’re going to have to make some tough decisions about how we move forward to make sure that we include other sources of energy, alternative energy in the mix but we also have to make sure we can keep the rates as low as we possibly can to encourage industry to stay and to encourage people to continue the growth of this great province".

Neufeld says the 26 directions outlined in the Province’s energy plan of 2002 have, for the most part, been completed or are in the process of being completed. Neufeld says the new updated energy plan is under development now, and should be completed this fall.

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Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 03:59 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: acrider54 on June 1 2006 6:21 AM

It will be done. The U.S. needs the power, forget us people in B.C.

Posted by: lunarguy on June 1 2006 8:59 AM

Actually I doubt it will be done. The enviromental damage from the Dam and the increased desire to pay attention to native issues will stop it.

Besides the liberals have found a much better way of giving money to the US. They are called IPP's. Independant Power Producers who is what we are now going to be putting the majority of our focus for new energy from. Guess who owns the majority of them trying to into BC ?

Posted by: kimbo on June 1 2006 10:25 AM

Spin doctors, we are importing power have they looked at how much we are exporting? I we are building dams like China we certainly are not building them for our own use. When will someone have enough brains to pull the switch. Would we become another Iraq?

Posted by: Chadermando on June 1 2006 1:04 PM

Why not build community based co-gen plants that serve the community with cheep reliable locally produced energy from our vast natural resource of hog fuel we get from scrap wood that we currently burn into thick air?

Obviously our politicians either have no berries of their own, no ideas, or simply take lots of donations from those who view citizens and our natural resources as a commodity for their own personal gain.

Posted by: Palopu on June 2 2006 7:25 AM

That is the Question?? How much power that is generated in BC is exported to the U.S. and would we still be net importer of electricity if we did not export this power. With the **Not so great Free Trade Agreement** we must continue to export power at certain levels even if we need it ourselves. In addition we have sold our electricity for the almighty dollar and Hydro will not want to let that money go. In the end we should not build anymore dams. The dams in China while needed for the electricity are devastating to the Country. Chinese rivers are polluted to Cancerous levels, and they will be facing a huge water shortage in the future. This is not a Country that we should try to emulate.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on June 2 2006 7:56 AM

Site C should be built and owned by the town of Ft St John. The north is the energy and resourse supplier for the south.
But the trade off is the northern residents should be able to live like spoiled Arabs. The water taxes should come back to the town that has to live with the loss of land base.
The Williston was a bad deal for the north. The north had cheap power under the deal for awhile, until the NDP got elected and needed money for their controlled society experiments. We need protection from possible NDP governments if the north is to benefit from Site C.

Posted by: kimbo on June 2 2006 10:00 AM

"The north had cheap power under the deal for awhile, until the NDP got elected." In don't know what the NDP had to do with the cheap power. The Williston dam whent on stream in the latter 60's. So where was all the cheap power used until the NDP was first elected in 72? If that is the NDP period refered to. What happened in the north until the NDP was again elected, some industrial development at Chetwynd.
The people got shafted when the dam was being built by BC Hydro when they bought up the property from the local people for the dam backwater. And they had to fight like hell to even get employment during the construction of of the Williston lake dam.
I quote from the book, This Was Our Valley by Earl K. Pollen and Shirlee Smith Matheson.
It seems to be the thing to do and that is to pass the buck. Minister Coleman just blamed the NDP for the pine beetle epidemic. The pine beetle has been arouind for a long time. The present epidemic was just getting started when the liberals took control so what where they doing to reudce the risk? The fact is the climate conditions and other factors were just right for the epidemic and it would have been impossible to control it.