Well folks, more brutal economic news on the rise for British Columbia, Gordon Campbell`s electric powerhouse pipe dream has gone up in smoke, now before you jump the gun and think that I am being bias or left or right on the issue, even the biggest names in the private power game have all but conceded that California won`t be buying any Run of River or any other power in B.C. for anymore than the cheapest power on the market!Recently Paul Kariya (head of the independent power producers) and Donald McInnes (CEO and president of Plutonic power) were down in California to lobby the Senate lawmakers on changing their green energy standards, well it didn`t go very well, not only couldn`t they convince anyone that B.C. run of river power is green, the California Senate disqualifies all B.C. green power projects, this is a stunning defeat for IPPS and Gordon Campbell.....NO Wonder Blair Leckstrom ran for the hills!
Paul Kariya is on the record as saying.....and I`m paraphrasing.......Perhaps the lawmakers will change(voted out).....We won`t change their minds or have any victory in the short term.......With current rules over what qualifies as green renewables none of B.C.s run of river projects would qualify as green renewable........_______________________________________________________________
As a matter of fact any project over 50 mega watt automatically gets disqualified, any project that diverts a river system gets disqualified, once you add in thousands of miles of transmission lines, nothing will qualify as green, and unless you build a transmission line of superconductor quality with traditional line loss the IPPs aren`t doing micro-electric generation......
I could show you a bunch of charts, graphs, hockey stick graphs, projections, and the only word I can say is.....Were Hooped!
I have written on some of these facts in our Naikun and windmill series, but let`s elaborate a bit more.....The projections forward for California, by 2020 California is predicting a need of maybe 2% more power......2% folks, industrial power use is falling, power use for lighting is falling, new efficiency standards, not to mention the public at large in California have had their credit cards and credit cut off, there will never be another unregulated Enron/Accenture/Arther Anderson electrical ponzi scheme perpetrated on the masses, it`s probably going to happen here in B.C. but it won`t happen in California......They don`t have a corrupt Dictator and spineless brain dead cabinet like what we have in British Columbia!
Despite the best hired guns Gordon Campbell could throw at the California Senate they were shot down in flames, in fact with American protectionism, building standards, local subsidies, the odds that B.C. could sell any power to California is slim at best and....
Any power B.C. sells into the southern grid will only receive the same money as the spot market rate....B.C. will not receive any premium for Green power....Any thoughts of $100 plus dollar mega watt power is decades away at the earliest, and even with that there is zero assurance.
But that brings us to the dilemma we face in B.C........Blair Leckstrom ran for the hills, we are already selling IPP power for a fraction of what we in B.C. are being forced to pay for it!
There must be some sort of Federal regulatory board, some national over sight panel that can clamp down a premier who is deranged, for you see friends, Gordon Campbell doesn`t care, he continues to not only exclude over sight from the BCUC....But he is continually signing more outrageous power purchase agreements, California won`t be paying that premium we will, Plutonic power, Finavera and others will be subsidized by you!!! The ratepayer, everyone of the voices of sanity were correct....Marvin Schaeffer...Rafe Mair.....Will McMartin...Dr. Calvert and others........Besides buggering up our rivers, besides killing off wild fish,ruining bear habitat, massive transmission corridors, for what? Worthless freshet power we will be selling at a loss, a substantial lose for decades!
Surely the editorial board at the Vancouver Sun, the business section, Government over-sight, regulators, the LAW...Someone must stop Gordon Campbell from bankrupting the Province!
His experiment failed, obviously the shysters from Accenture lured Gordon Campbell in.... with talk about the good old days of Enron, as a matter of fact California still owes B.C. nearly 1/2 billion dollars from that energy scam.
And the reason I brought up about this not being a left/right/environment good or bad,public versus private.....Putting all those issues aside for a moment, let`s talk the business case, California domestic power use is stagnant, California industrial use is falling, California business electrical use is flat......No big spikes of electric are being forecast for California, and with individuals going for partial solar, upgrades, efficiency,LED lighting, even when adding in the potential of millions of electric cars, the impact is minimal, cars will be charged in the wee hours of night......
So demand forecasts are way down, the California Senate won`t budge on their green standards, any water/river diversion is out, anything over 50 megawatts is out, so the bottom line is a matter of common sense, a matter of legality.....
Gordon Campbell does not have the authority through cabinet, through fiat, through executive order to guarantee $billions of taxpayer dollars out of the public purse to private for profit companies for decades!
NO ONE MAN HAS THAT RIGHT...........Donald McInnes, Paul Kariya, you can read their own words, the biggest flappiest gums in the private power game have admitted that California will not certify their power as green, they have both admitted that their power will not receive any premium price, they have both admitted that the California Senate won`t change their minds, they both have admitted it`s time to take their ball home, the game is over.Read the statements from industry experts here
When the IPP/ BC Liberal donors are calling it game over then it`s game over, Gordon Campbell`s scheme is dead, any power buying agreements must be tied to market rate, no one dirty premier can guarantee a river paved with taxpayer`s gold! Game over Gordon Campbell, Arnold Schwarzenegger is gone, you have no clout, no one wants your over-priced fish slaughter power.
Gordon Campbell`s electric powerhouse/Enron of the north scam is over, there are no buyers of this false god.You can read about California energy demand here.
As you can see from the chart below, electrical price increases are modest at best, factor in a slashing of pensions, health care, jobs, and the electric price increase will amount to zero!
186
YEAR Residential Commercial Industrial
1990 10.68 12.60 10.54
1991 10.29 12.31 10.26
1992 10.08 11.69 10.08
1993 9.20 11.39 9.15
1994 9.43 10.54 8.92
1995 9.40 10.32 8.96
1996 9.38 10.14 8.83
1997 8.59 9.91 8.59
1998 8.49 9.78 8.56
1999 8.37 9.67 8.52
2000 8.19 9.47 8.28
2001 9.35 10.96 9.75
2002 9.17 11.57 9.83
2003 10.22 11.20 9.50
2004 12.03 10.72 9.09
2005 12.10 10.78 9.06
2006 11.97 10.71 8.97
2007 11.54 10.37 8.73
2008 11.91 10.79 9.07
2009 11.95 10.98 9.24
2010 11.95 10.98 9.24
2011 12.07 11.09 9.33
2012 12.19 11.20 9.42
2013 12.30 11.30 9.51
2014 12.43 11.42 9.61
2015 12.55 11.53 9.70
2016 12.78 11.74 9.88
2017 13.01 11.95 10.06
2018 13.25 12.17 10.25
2019 13.49 12.40 10.43
2020 13.74 12.63 10.63
Form 2.3 Electricity Prices (2007$) - SMUD
The clean energy act, Gordon Campbell through his spineless Government gave himself the final secretive hidden from public oversight say, executive power to set rates, approve any project, he gave himself the power to triple your hydro rates or more with the stroke of a pen......There must be some legal framework to stop a demented criminally insane Gordon Campbell.......
"Recall in the Fall" can`t be delayed!
The Straight Goods
Cheers-Eyes Wide Open
24 comments:
Absolutely shameful! And where is the media on this? Certainly not reporting as they should be. Corruption runs deep doesn't it?
Recall in the fall. I am looking forward to it and shall sign up to do my part.
Excellent column Grant!!
As an aside, I see in the 100 Mile House newspaper this morning...Ms. Barnett appears to be getting a bit nervous...
.
Where is the media?
CKNW started to run pro-HST Campbell government propaganda ads this afternoon.
Christy Clark spent a whole half-hour (12:30-13:00) talking about the ad and even re-playing it on her show.
CKNW will never criticize this government because they profit from the propaganda money (our money) they receive.
The propaganda profits help pay for Bill Good's Christy Clark paychecks.
Taxpayer money is supporting these two clowns.
What's the point of wasting our money trying to sell something they have already rammed down our throats and are already paying like it or not?
Canwest Media donated $50,000 to the BC Liberal Party in 2005 and will once again be rewarded by Campbell with this disgusting propaganda revenue.
BTW, did anyone notice that the price for a coin-box Vancouver Sun newspaper went from $1 to $1.25 on July 1st?
The radio ads are going to run for three weeks.
They will be followed by a mailout campaign of pamphlets sent to every B.C. household.
Finance Minister Colin Hansen says he doesn't know how much the ad campaign will cost.
Bill Tieleman: "If Finance Minister Colin Hansen doesn't know the cost of his own ministry's ads and yet wants to purport to be an expert on how the HST is going to benefit, he has no credibility on this."
Leah and others
I'm not sure if my rebuttal to Barnett is still in the comments section of the 100 Mile Free Press but it will be in a letter to the editor next issue.
Watch for it.
Thanks for the heads up Gary! I went back later to read your rebuttal...masterful job!
I've also done my rounds on some of the Interior papers with a list of HST supporters, and how much money they've given the Libs over the past 5 years (one commenter made the suggestion as he thought it was a real eye-opener)...it appears to be opening the eyes of others as well.
Maybe, just maybe, we can wake up some of the slumbering population, and set records straight before Campbell's cohorts manage to talk soft hearts into forgiveness. I know...that sounds like it might be on the verge of impossible - but one can never rule out the gullibility of those who want to believe, in spite of the facts in front of their noses.
BUDGET '95 FACT SHEET
The B.C. Record - What the Experts Say
"British Columbia's high double-A ratings and stable outlook are based on the province's improving fiscal profile, moderate debt burden, and strong economic performance . . . we expect total tax-supported debt to moderate in the near future because of anticipated decline in the deficit as well as debt reduction through the use of endowment fund proceeds."
Goldman Sachs
Corporate Bond Credit Research Financial Update, March 1995
"British Columbia is still the strongest credit with respect to financial flexibility. The provincial economy is expected to continue to perform well as a result of a pick-up in domestic construction activity, strong net in-migration and continued robust export growth to the Pacific Rim.
"The provincial government has introduced a debt management plan to stop the growth of the province's direct debt and slow the growth of other tax-supported debt.
"Most of the increase in program expenditures -- particularly in education and health care -- is justified by the need to cope with a rapidly increasing population due to strong in-migration into the province."
Citicorp
1994/95 fiscal review of Canadian provinces, February 1995
"B.C. is in the best financial shape of all the provinces . . . Besides achieving lower deficits, the province has taken action to keep debt growth on a downward path . . . debt service absorbs just 5 cents of every spending dollar. By way of comparison, every other province devotes more than 10 per cent of total expenditures towards servicing the debt."
Nesbitt Burns
Provincial Handbook, December 1994
". . . the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in Canada and the government's commitment to balance the budget by 1996/97 by freezing taxation and cutting the growth rate of expenditures . . . underscore the market's view of B.C. as a top-notch credit."
Wood Gundy
1995 Provincial Profiles, November 1994
"British Columbia was the only Canadian province to outperform its budgetary targets substantially in the 1993/94 fiscal year and the government has put forward a credible plan to balance the budget."
Lehman Brothers
Sovereign Commentary, August 1994
"Moody's Investors Service economic outlook remains positive . . . Debt levels remain the lowest of any Canadian province."
The Dow Jones Capital Markets Report
May 10, 1994
". . . Debt levels are relatively low, with the lowest level of debt (including unfunded pension liabilities) in relation to GDP of any Canadian province."
Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited
May 1994
"British Columbia is a leader in budget deficit reduction among Canadian provinces . . . British Columbia's prospects are positive based on the Harcourt administration's economic management, the overall recovery of the Canadian economy, and the province's geostrategic position as a crossroads of the Pacific."
CS First Boston,
July 20, 1994
"Taxes have been frozen for the next three fiscal years. The balanced budget plan is not being made on expenditure restraint measures alone. In fact . . . B.C. is actually growing out of its deficit position. The province is on course to balance its budget by 1996/97."
Canadian Bond Rating Service
May 3, 1994
"B.C. is on its way to having the lowest tax burden in Canada, the lowest debt and debt servicing burden in Canada, and the highest quality of public service in Canada. Right now B.C. is the place of choice to live in Canada -- the reasons will become even more compelling in the future."
G.A. Pedersson
B.C.'s 1994 Budget An Analysis (client newsletter)
Anyone know what this is about?
From Google:
"The requested URL /2010/07/gordon-campbells-california-dream-turns.html... is too large to process."
It happens when I try to provide a write-up proving the former NDP government was doing extremely well fiscally. It is well within the character limit set by "Blogger"...but Google doesn't like it - and won't let it through.
Bloody hell!! First it won't go through at all ...then it goes through 3 times??! Grant, I'm sorry - please delete 2 out of the 3 and leave room for others to comment. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........
As long as BC Hydro is paying them up to 3 times the market price for their IPP power, I don't see why the IPP guys care if California doesn't pay a premium for BC R-O-R energy. That's BC Hydro's (our) problem.
And anyways, how is electricity from 100 or so run-of-river projects more 'green' than electricity from one big hydro dam?
Glad you liked the comment Leah
There's a guy who really wants to Ben Dover for Campbell on the thread. I'll have to read his comment a couple of more times to figure him out. But he asks the standard question "where is the money to come from to pay for these programs" Christ some people just don't understand revenue neutral nor the fact that Government has just given big business a free ride. At the expense of the public, I might add.
Can we start a boycott campaign of any business that supports the HST? Obviously, CKNW and CanWest support the HST. Can we determine who brought the lawsuit against the HST referendum? If the 700,000 people who signed, boycotted the HST supporters, this would get their attention real quick. Start the boycott today, then recall in the fall.
Can't we start a boycott against anyone who supported the HST nd those who brought the lawsuit against the referendum? Start with NW and CannedWest! 700,000 people signed some would suppor a boycott. It's something before recall.
Gary...your rebuttal was fine, we don`t need rebuttals...
We need "Recall in the Fall"....
Campbell and the media are doing the old soft sell on the HST...Bill Good/Baldrey/Palmer...Hansen...All of them...
Here is the deal, those stooges will jump from saying your starbucks coffee is 20 cents more, what`s the big deal...You won`t hear from anyone who had to buy a funeral, or a big labour bill...Or an extra $150 dollars for a domestic flight...You won`t hear from them....
Then they will keep bouncing back to..."What services are to be cut if we return the bribe"
And of course they will keep talking about Atlantic Canada when they harmonized...Prices fell on some items by 1%......
Yet business were able to write off 12% ...Potentially 12%....
That`s what the PST was in Atlantic Canada in 1996....Nothing fell even close to that..Housing costs and labour service costs rose....
I heard Donna Barnett has been having major heart trouble...That would be a real shame if Donna Barnett died before .....
"Recall in the Fall"
Cheers
Anon 7:42...From RossK’s blog, here’s the quick answer on who started the anti-anti-HST bill:
Former BC Attorney General Geoff Plant questions the constitutional validity of the draft bill at the heart of the anti-HST initiative – the so-called “HST Extinguishment Act.”
Other signatories of the bill (and their donations to the Liberal party) include:
John Allan, President & CEO, Council of Forest Industries ($25,215)
Pierre Gratton, President & CEO, Mining Association of BC ($13,180)
Philip Hochstein, President, Independent Contractors & Businesses Assoc. ($60,160)
Wayne Hoskins, President, Western Convenience Stores Association ($500 worth of penny candy)
Rick Jeffery, President & CEO, Coast Forest Products Association ($62,300, combined)
John Winter, President & CEO, BC Chamber of Commerce (nada, on the face of it, at least)
Grand (just scratching the surface as it doesn't include all the companies associated with those 'associations') Total = $161,355.
However; after spending the better part of day chasing down the companies that belong to the above councils etc...we get a much clearer picture. I'll post it in two comments blocks as it's too large for one.
The 30 organizations (and some of their member companies) that support the HST, along with their donations to the Liberal Party of BC over the past 4 years are:
Business Council of BC, .. no donations found thus far.
BC Chamber of Commerce, .. $1.080.00 from various chambers.
Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC, .. $17,495.00...from various Accountants.
Retail Council of Canada, .. $5,750.00
BC Technology Industry Association, .. $30,590.00
Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, .. no donations found thus far.
Mining Association of BC, .. approximately $926,080.00
Council of Forest Industries, .. about $982,215.00
BC Trucking Association, .. $79,650.00 various trucking companies who are likely members.
BC Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association, .. $122,000.00
Coast Forest Products Association, .. about $1,148,100.00
New Car Dealers Association of BC, .. $442,089.00
BC Construction Association, .. $21,000.00
BC Pulp and Paper Steering Committee, .. no donations found thus far.
Truck Loggers Association, .. $33,020.00
Motion Picture Industry Association of BC, .. $13,575.00 plus approx $15,000.00 from Vancouver Film Studios
Greater Vancouver Gateway Council, .. $12,840.00 from various members.
Railway Association of Canada, .. $172,410.00 from CN's David McLean, $43,780.00 FROM CP and $9,250.00 from Southern Railway with BNSF coming in at $4,026.75
Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of BC, .. $60,160.00 direct contribution - plus $612,000 in 2005 and $267,900 in 2009 for a total of about a million in anti-NDP, pro-Liberal advertising from 2005 to 2009. (Thank you Ian!)
Initiatives Prince George Development Corporation, .. $695.00
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, .. $19,820.00
Association for Mineral Exploration BC, .. $9,680.00
New Media BC, .. $1,000.00
Western Convenience Store Association, .. $47,320.00
Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, .. $5,400.00 plus various Pipeline companies donations, .. $131,921.00
BC Agriculture Council, .. no donations found thus far.
Coal Association of Canada, .. no donations found thus far.
BC Food Processors, .. $10,490.00
Aggregate Producers Association of BC, .. no donations found thus far.
Construction Labour Relations Association of BC, .. $61,183.00
Coalition of BC Business, .. $142,000 in anti-NDP, pro-Liberal advertising. (Chairman: John Winter...from above, imagine that!)
I'm certain I've missed quite a few, but this should give us an idea. If the biggies can afford these types of donations for politics, they can afford to pay their share of taxes.
A couple of other donations caught my eye as well:
$16,457.00 from McDonald's Restaurants...instead of rewarding Campbell for lowering wages for this sector, why don't you give your trainees a raise?
$345,116.54...from various other restaurants in BC. Wow! Business must have been great in order to serve up that kind of political giftie! Hope you think the same way in 6 months.
Grant, thank you for your patience while I'm being overly busy on YOUR blog - I just felt that the FACTS of government in the 90's as seen by The Watchers, is something we can all use as ammunition against those who spout Liberal rhetoric.
No doubt they'll try to decry statements that are pro-NDP management, but it's rather hard to do that when they're using statements made by the same companies to bolster their own "standing."
My question is...if I can find this information on the internet, and use it to prove Liberals have been lying all along - why can't those in the "official opposition" do the same?
The members and donations listing is the result of about 4 hours work on one afternoon. No doubt I've missed a fair number, but this at least gives us an idea of who the government is most beholden to...and why.
Thanks Grant, for the forum to share this with others.
Leah. I also heard that BC Hydro and BC Ferries are part of the business-led court challenge against the "NOHST Initiative". I can't recall whether is was Chris Delaney or Bill Vander Zalm that brought this forward, but I'm sure that if this was incorrect we would have heard denials fast and loud. My first question about this is, what's in it for them? The other is who put them up to it?
Also, thank you for digging up all the reports from those "DISMAL 90s and/or FAST FERRIES" that Gordo and his backers keep on bringing up whenever someone asks them a question that exposes their deficiencies, requires justifications of positions they espouse on certain issues or just plain defend the actions they have taken that bombed.
Grant, your article exposes the idiocy of this IPP boondoggle completely, other than I would add, why would anyone expect to sell power to the state of California at a premium when they can't even afford to pay the going rate. State employees have received IOUs rather than a pay cheque, and now Arnie wants government employees to work for minimum wages.
It looks as if we are not only expected to subsidize big business through the HST, but we will also be subsidizing the IPPs as well.
Great digging everyone. Thanks Leah too for compiling those great stats. It's important to have actual facts available when commenting in the MSM, too many people buy the corporate bullshit that passes for news stories these days.
Paul Wilcocks has an article on his blog and the TC wondering if Prosperity (mine) is a good thing after all, he seems to think so. I encourage everyone to go have your opinion heard there. Paying Attention is the name of his blog.
I was watching the House of Commons. I saw a motion passed, to give millions of our tax dollars to, banks, large corporations, gas and oil company's. They also are given, large tax reductions, and, in some cases, the gift of the HST. The big boys, have the bucks to pay the political party, that favors them the most. The HST was designed for big business, and big business only. All the HST funds, go to Harper. People say, Campbell is really a Conservative, flying under a Liberal flag. I guess, the HST, isn't called the Harper Sales Tax for nothing. Seems the CSIS, have their eyes on BC. Must be some dirt somewhere. Campbell threw a tantrum, over the accusations.
"Surely the editorial board at the Vancouver Sun" will kow tow to what ever position the Campbell Regime asks them to take. See my latest post at Mary's Vancouver Sun Reflects Badly on Journalism
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