Gutting a power house : BC Hydro and the new energy plan

The government of British Columbia released its new energy policy in November 2002 which recommends radical changes in the electricity sector with changes that would result in a fully market-based price system, open access for private generation, and private sector building for export. The author argues that the new energy policy threatens to change the nature of BC Hydro and severely undermine its strength as a public provider of electricity. The author argues that the massive redesign of the BC electricity system is occurring to meet the interests of U.S. and private energy producers, not the collective interests of the people of British Columbia. The new energy plan will break up the integrated nature of BC Hydro into 4 major components - power generation, power transmission, power distribution and administrative and customer services. The result will be higher prices for consumers and reduced efficiency. In terms of environmental impact, the author argues that the new energy plan is designed to increase electricity production and to use dirtier forms of fuel, gas and coal, in the production process resulting in increased greenhouse gases. In addition, the new system is not being restructured to eliminate the need for a new extensive and environmentally damaging transmission system