Francis Plourde

I have to confess something. I found today one of the most comprehensive websites about energy issues in B.C. I’ve ever seen. It’s called Sqwalk.

This “Concerned Citizens Coalition” (as it calls itself) collects all kinds of articles focusing on energy issues in BC. Their archives go back to 2000. Some of their information is somewhat surprising.

I spent most of the afternoon looking at it. Just for fun, I went through 2002 to find out what was the major concern of BC citizens regarding power issues in B.C. at that time.

In 2002, Minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources Richard Neufeld was considering breaking up BC Hydro. In an interview with Scott Simpson, from the Vancouver Sun, Neufeld described BC Hydro as a “gorilla” monopoly. He also already predicted that electrical demand would exceed supply in BC by 2007. The fate of the crown corporation was to be announced later that year. But there was a huge movement against the decision.

To be fair, he had to go through the process, which was a requirement of the newly created Western Electricity Coordinating Council, a new regional organization monitoring energy issues in the Westcoast, from Mexico to BC.

Five years later, BC Hydro still exists, even though smaller industries are allowed to bid for power projects. And, as Neufeld predicted, the demand is indeed exceeding the supply of electricity.

I wish I could figure out what will be going on in five years at the power level in BC. The more I read about the topic, the more it seems that there’s no simple answer to that question.