Gordon Campbell`s energy sell off is failing on all accounts.Back in 2003 out of the blue Campbell comes up with a green energy plan,his plan required by 2016 for BC to almost double it`s generating capacity,first off we never had black-outs,we always had power,what could we possibly need with all that power?
Now back at this time I wasn`t paying much attention but when I heard that BC hydro was barred by law to produce any of this power my antennae went up,why would you ban a crown corporation from making future profits for our own benefit,something was terribly wrong,how could the media totally ignore that!..........Let me repeat that, Gordon Campbell stated to the media in the legislature that BC hydro,a money making corporation was going to be barred/banned from producing any new power,and a government directive stating all new power generation must come from private for profits companies!
Is it just me or shouldn`t the media`s alarm bells have rung? Mine did.......,but boy has the worm turned,Gordon Campbell is such is dismal failure,his energy plan is all but dead.....Several things have transpired since Campbell tried to screw us, firstly,we BCers must have some friends with clout in the California senate, back when Campbell just up and sold all our rivers for 5 to 10 thousand apiece,no one told me they were for sale,I could of scraped that much together,Campbell figured he could kill our fish,ruin habitat and reward his corporate buddies,my how the mighty have fallen..........
Lets start with 2 years ago,Campbell had full coffers,surpluses,his sell off was in go mode and........Strike 1----The CRASH, The world markets tank,everyone is broke,no one can get financing,wall street,hedge funds,derivatives,everyone was screwing each other,the big boys cry for bail-outs,countries,states,towns,people,everyone is broke.....So now what,Campbell gets a reality check on how economies change.
Strike 2--Earlier this year the California senate rules that BC (proposed) run of river power isn`t green......This was a big move,the California senate ruled that the environmental footprint was too large for this power to be considered green,and the California senate also had strict wildlife requirements,especially fish.....So with the California senate ruling means that California will not pay a premium for tainted power,it would justify California buying coal power or something dirty. -----Read the story here on the California senate http://www.vancouversun.com/Technology/California+rejects+green+power+claims/1453593/story.html
So lets look at these strikes,everyone is broke,big-time broke,California lays an egg in Campbells lap,they tell him his power isn`t green and he`s killing fish,and add the fact that California is broke,why buy power for a big premium when you can buy cheap electric.....
Meanwhile the media was still silent,I mean all the BC hydro employees who left hydro to go work for Plutonic and others,surely the media must of known something was up,and not just hydro employees,ex BC Liberal government staffers were all heading to Plutonic power.
So meanwhile Plutonic power and Naikun and other private power companies are loading up the BC liberal party bank accounts,well well,I knew something was up,Campbell knew he was in trouble,his energy plan is imploding,no one is going to buy this high-priced power,everyone has been promised a huge premium for their power all backstopped by BC hydro and the tax-payers,Campbell is in panic mode,so not for one minute do I believe that the BCUC decision to reject Campbell`s green energy was a surprise to me or Campbell, his green energy plan had become completely derailed,no one to buy it and BC is too broke to absorb massive energy losses,so I believe the BCUC decision was on orders from Campbell,after all the BCUC has backed up the government on all of it`s requests so far.
Here is what I believe,Campbell doesn`t have the balls to tell Plutonic that the deals are off,so he gets the BCUC to do his bidding.
So today the five dam project was halted in the Kooteneys over the 1000 negative impact reports on wildlife,paticularly fish,all fish in the Glacier and Howser river would be dead and the people had the California senate report stating they wouldn`t buy the power,it wasn`t green,it wasn`t fish-centric and didn`t have adequate river flow for fish,so now this project has been cancelled for now,when did the ministry of the environment stop anything? read about it here--- http://www.theprovince.com/Technology/Five+proposal+West+Kooteney+riles+residents/1900603/story.html
Which brings me to Naikun wind power,Paul Taylor,Campbell`s ex deputy finance minister,then Campbell appointed Taylor to ICBC to be their CEO, and I need not remind you that Taylor was CEO through the rigged auction scandal and the chop shop scandal,he quietly slipped out to become CEO for the Naikun wind project,well Naikun is in trouble,first off they can`t get investors,the Haida have offered 250 million for a 30% equity share(which is a hell of a deal considering the cost is 2 billion for the project and 250 million is but 1/8 of the cost but 1/3 equity share) but the Haida is asking Ottawa for the money,well Ottawa is saying no,and finally the Naikun wind project will only proceed if campbell agrees to pay a super high end price for that power(wind power is expensive) but the problem with wind power,it`s unreliable,any wind power would have to go into the grid and be backstopped by BC Hydro reserves,how could we sell high priced wind power when the wind could stop and does stop all the time,wind power has to be backstopped. So Naikun needs a BC tax-payer guarantee on the power price,Naikun needs investors and money,the Haida needs the federal government to lend them money on a deal that is backstopped by the BC government which has to backstop the wind power generation with BC hydro reserve power.
You see that California could never rely on Naikun wind power,what happens when the wind stops,and trust me,the windiest places in BC don`t always blow....read about Naikun here
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Haida+take+million+stake+Naikun+win+project/1889138/story.html
So Campbell has been a financial disaster,even his giveaways have backfired,so it is my belief that Campbell is squashing his own green energy plan,he is getting the BCUC to do the dirty work, as for that little blurb in the throne speech talking about Burrard thermal and the BCUC that was nothing but posturing.
Which brings me back to the media,something funny going on,Baldrey,Palmer,Smyth,everyone of them are mad at the government,mad about the HST,the deficit shocker,all the lies,yet the media,Palmer,Baldrey,Smyth all three of them are pro private power,in fact all 3 of them are pushing the government to over-rule the BCUC and jam private power down our throats,why.....I have been asking myself why,and the only thing I can think of is this,those three clowns hang around the legislature,they knew Campbell was flogging and promoting private power,they knew hydro workers and BC Liberals insiders were joining Plutonic and others in droves,well these IPPs are publicly traded companies,perhaps the three wise men or stooges have a different motivation,could it be the the legislative reporting team have perhaps invested money in private power?
The Straight Goods
Cheers-Eyes Wide open
Grant G
15 comments:
This article is bunk. BC Hydro is unable to produce green and sustainable power because its costs are way too high due to featherbedded unionized labour and massive overhead.
Aberfeldie run of river project by BC Hydro cost them $110 a MWh to produce!!! This is exactly TWICE the cost that the new private IPP Ashlu Creek is contracted to sell power to BC Hydro for the next 40 years!!!
And then BC Hydro has been working for 15 years on the Site-C dam, costing taxpayers $400 million so far, which will devastate the Peace River. Cost; $160 a MWh. What a disaster. but the pretend-environmentalists don't care.
So why does the COPE union and its pseudo-environmental groups (wilderness commune and socialize our rivers) want BC Hydro to develop yet more costly and non-green projects?
COPE is unable to tolerate competition to BC Hydro from the private sector.
BC Hydro not allowed to produce new power? Are you kidding?
Haven't you read the papers? You should help us defeat and crush BC Hydro's Site C dam proposal as it will destroy the Peace River and valley!!!!
http://www.straight.com/article-255340/peace-river-power-play
You're full of it Anon - and you know it. Do some homework on BC Hydro and their history. There is a reason they're among the top 3 world wide for sustainability, cost savings, etc.
You sound like an anti-union IPP hack.
Campbell is killing his own energy baby.
IPPs(if approved)should have to sell their power on the spot market and BC Hydro should get a 10% premium on all power transactions,no guarantees from the taxpayer or BC Hydro.
Aberfeldie ROR...There is no cost to BC Hydro,the longer it runs,how much water goes through the turbines,how long the ROR is in service,Aberfeldie power will drop in cost every year,eventually not costing any money but making money,making money for BC.
Site C is never/ever going to happen,PERIOD!
Naikun wind power has to be backstopped by BC Hydro,what happens when the wind doesn`t blow? Anyone buying Naikun would want a service guarantee.
And the 800lb gorilla in the room is the California senate....Good luck trying to convince them our power is green and doesn`t kill fish and wildlife,California will give the nod to coal power before they ever buy BC`s NON-GREEN POWER.
As for Burrard thermal,it`s there for back-up emergency power,it ran last year for only a few days and at a very low capacity.
Campbell just doesn`t have the balls to face his party doners,the BCUC will do the dirty work,never mind the posturing in the throne speech,and lastly with the massive glut of clean natural gas these projects are all but dead.....Gordon Campbell couldn`t run a lemonade stand!
Cheers-Eyes Wide Open
Anonymous has no idea what he talks about. "Cost Savings" by BC Hydro??? So why is it that the average salary and benefit of ALL employees at BCH is $100,000??? This is all union freeload. See their own filings on the internet.
Getting some award for "sustainability" is meaningless. Show facts and figures. Aberfeldie cost them TWICE that of IPPs. $110 to be exact.
Why dont you back up your "Cost Savings" nonsense with some facts. BC Hydro had a LOSS in fiscal 2009 and paid no profit to the province.
This is despite the fact that they are sitting on 20 billion dollars of public assets paid by you and me.
Some "efficient" organization. $100,000 average salary. President gets paid $500,000 a year to show loss on assets he never paid for.
Grant, how are IPPs going to sell to the spot market when transmission is not de-regulated in BC? How are IPPs going to sell to the spot market when BC Hydro demands a 25% fee on all transactions and is unwilling to reduce that fee? And besides green energy cannot compete with coal. The spot market is determined by coal. So your formula makes little sense.
Grant, there is a field called "economics". Capital has a cost. If not, why dont you give me your capital, and I will return it to you in 40 years, ey? Lets not be ignorant of economics and interest payments. After 50 years, the plant is so decrepit that it is decomissioned, unless you want to spend more capital on it. Someone has to pay the interest and pay back the capital.
When the wind does not blow in northern BC, its blowing in Alberta or Wyoming. All these are tied together by transmission line. Besides, when Naikun is running, BC Hydro saves its water behind its gigantic dams (which are 100 times larger than Naikun). Doesn't cost them anything. Besides, BC Hydro pays $10 a MWh less for wind than for hydro. Its all on their website.
No way to send power to California. The lines are all fully congested.
IPPs dont kill fish. Rainbow trout is not endangered. No IPP creek has salmon or steeleahd. No permit has been issued for such a stream.
You are wrong again - Burrard will be run up to 6000 GWh to make up for the deficit in BC Hydro generation and to cut down on coal fired imports from America, and that is the current plan. That will pollute Vancouver as the largest source of GHGs and huge amounts of smog and NOx.
COPE the BC Hydro union paid a lot more to Carole James than IPPs paid to the Liberals, even though they new NDP was going to lose. Get your facts straight.
I see the Plutonic pimps want to terrorize with mis-imformation...
I start with this, BC hydro made money this year,hundreds of millions...Check out page 26
http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2009_Sept_Update/sp/pdf/agency/bchpa.pdf
Capitol has never been cheaper,government can borrow at the lowest rates in Canadian history,,the five dam proposal in the Kooteneys will kill every spawning fish in the Glacier and Howser river.
I suggest you open the links in the above story,especially the one about the California senate and PG& E proposed transmission lines,as for powereX or BC hydro making money on selling IPP power is a joke,guarantee to buy power at 80$ or more and sell it at 25$ your just making it up on the fly....a 25% fee on a transaction that BC loses 100% on is voodoo economics!
As for my articles,you post your own links,I will read them,post hard factual data,not spin from Plutonic or Naikun and the con man Taylor.
But again,you clowns pimping for plutonic and Naikun are missing the boat on my article,it is Gordon Campbell who is squashing IPP power projects,his energy baby is dead,take your complaints to the premier,man are you guys gullible!
As for burrard thermal,it ain`t going anywhere,it will never run near those numbers you quoted it never has,last year it ran for 5 days at low capacity,and there is new power coming on line,it won`t run at all this year....
My advice to you pimps,sell your stock,Campbell has pulled the plug on private power.
About the only smart thing you said was that wind energy can`t compete with coal fired electricity...and unfortunately the USA can only afford CHEAP POWER.
Cheers
Obviously you can't read a financial report. Take a look at BC Hydro financial report for 2009. It made ZERO profit on 20 billion dollars, where it should have made lets say 13% or 2,600 million dollars. The reason is the stealing of ratepayers money and assets by the usual culprits.
BC Hydro paid ZERO profit to the province in 2009. Because it had a loss. Then it juggled the books and found some account to postpone/draw upon and now claims 366 million of paper profit.
But then it paid ZERO to the province while leeching off 20 billion dollars of assets the people of BC own.
With gigantic cost overruns by BC Hydro in its construction projects, nobody will lend money to BC Hydro at bank rates that you claim. And its credit rating was recently downgraded. Low interest rates in Canadian history also helps the private sector ---- duh!
The Kootenay project is not 5 DAMS, but 2 wiers and 2 taps. You are ignorant of facts.
It doesnt matter that California may put in power lines (they dont have the money or ROW). Fact is that BC Hydro owns all transmission lines in BC and wants a fee.
Power was $90 in the US last year and IPPs generate power at $55 (Ashlu). So dont just make up the numbers. Washington State power prices historically has been about $50 to $60. Only that IPPs cannot export power because BC Hydro owns the lines.
You cannot hypocritically complain that IPPs will rip off the province by exporting to California, and then from the other side of your mouth claim price of power is $25 over there. Make up your mind and stick to principles of honesty and accuracy and science.
Besides, it takes BC Hydro TWICE the cost to build the same project compared to the IPPs and Hydro needs to import dirty power to make up for the shortfall. So ratepayers win by going private on new generation.
Take a look at Aberfeldie (BC Hydro) atrocious cost overruns and wastage at the BCUC filings. This is HARD FACTS that 2-bit ideological and emotional pseudo environmentalists (according to the First Nations) who rather see global warming destroy the species are too blind to see.
BC has a deficit of 6000 GWh, and the plan is to import coal fired power or run Burrard thermal. For an economic illiterate, it must be a surprise that power does not get created in perpetual machines. Either way power has to be generated (first law of physics), people suffer from the pollution and species are endangered. But the pseudo environmentalists dont care and rather see the unions freeload off all the profit on 20 billion of assets, and the pseudo environmentalists sit on the board of COPE organizations.
My advice to you - get a real job (if you can) and stop freeloading on government or other people's assets.
Anon 4.52
You seem very angry,how many billions has BC Hydro contributed to BC over the past 2 decades?...10s of billions of dollars..Plutonic power 0.00
Is that you Mcinnes(ceo of Plutonic)you can`t even remember donating large sums of cash to the bc liberals
And now your claiming BC hydro has cooked the books,I think your confused,Colin Hansen is Gordon Campbell`s organ grinding monkey,he doesn`t work for BC Hydro.
I`m in favour of small micro ROR or wind power designed for LOCAL use,like the ROR in port Alberni that supply`s power for a first nation`s community,or the wind mill on grouse mountain.
And as you know BC is a net exporter of power,don`t forget to count Alcan and the Columbia river treaty.And if we didn`t buy ultra cheap power from Alberta or Montana that power would be wasted,they can`t turn it off or store it,so environmentally it is better for us to buy it.
As for the latest BCUC decision.
BCUC(under orders from Campbell) have rejected the power demands,premier butterfly has moved on,he`s a tax man now,a lame duck,no clout,he`s done,the BC Liberal party are imploding,caput,going the way of the whigs.
Next time you show up try bringing links to back up you blather,any links,as for me getting a job,save me a seat at the EI office.
Come back again,I will gladly serve you your lunch,AGAIN
Cheers-Eyes Wide Open
Grant G, why don't you post your whole name and be more transparent with who you are and what your agenda is? Likewise, I'd encourage others on here to do the same since slinging mud and insults anonymously is a sign of a weak debate.
Grant G, I'd suggest you'd have more than 82 views if you were honest about who you are. I've been following this debate closely and have noted that a lot of your messages are consistent with www.cope378.ca and www.saveourrivers.ca two groups that I think are only looking at the negative.
Here's something about me. I'm Ann James, I live in Campbell River, I have three children and am a stay at home mom. My family all worked - past tense - in forestry during the boom and now are struggling to retrain and find new opportunity. I don't have any issue with run of river power or any private power development that is clean because it means work for my family and less impact in terms of greenhouse gases. Two of my family are working right now, one with Putonic in the Toba Valley and one with Cloudworks out at Harrison Lake, both private, both run of river. But both created job opportunity and that's not a bad thing.
I don't get the debate. Private companies mine and log here in BC, why can't they also create energy? They all have to pay taxes, which BC benefits from and from what I understand, all the power is sold to BC Hydro anyway, so I ask you Grant G, what's the problem here?
Grant - you just dont make sense. Plutonic did not receive a single penny from ratepayers. BC Hydro received 20 billion dollars of our assets and is wasting it.
When Plutonic goes to production in a year, it will be paying $25 a MWh in taxes and benefits to government. BC Hydro is paying less than $4 a MWh to government. Where do you think your health care costs are paid from? From the private sector. Not from BC Hydro and BCTC that have average salry and benefits of $130,000 a year.
If BC Hydro paid $10 billion in the past 20 years, IPPs would have paid $40 billion to BC for the same amount of power. And then BC Hydro charged you for $20 B in assets. Plutonic and IPPs would charge ZERO.
COPE 378 which is leeching on our assets has paid $60,000 to the NDP. McInnis paid $10,000. Now go figure.
Why ROR for just LOCAL use? If each locality was supplied by ROR, that would be same as ROR supplying the whole province! Why this NIMBY irrational syndrome? Why discriminate against people not in your locality? Do they not deserve clean and renewable energy?
BC Hydro is a net importer of power and imports coal power and burns gas at Burrard Thermal. Columbia River Treaty is about money and not energy. The money is then used to import coal power. That money should be used to feed the homeless and pay for health care and enhance wildlife habitat.
Power in Alberta is NOT ultra cheap. 12 months ago it was TWICE the cost of BC power. Of course Alberta can shut off its gas turbines. In fact there are more coal plants on the drawing board in Alberta because BC Hydro is importing so much dirty power due to fake environmentalists (according to First Nation chiefs) that have blocked development of green and clean energy because they are envious of private people making a contribution to society and creating real jobs for themselves and others.
BCUC did not reject anything. BCUC said that the BC Hydro LTAP and DSM were incomplete and wanted a new submission. And BCUC did not consider environmental factors, in contravention to the law.
You were unable to answer any of the points I raised or to my counter argument to your rhetoric. No wonder fake environmentalists are so despised by the people.
Here are links:
http://www.ippbc.com/EN/media_room/frequently_asked_questions/
http://www.ippbc.com/EN/media_room/fact_sheets_and_issue_sheets/
http://www.ippbc.com/media/Permits.pdf
http://www.greenenergybc.ca/powerploy.html
http://www.greenenergybc.ca/Assets/PowerPloy_Intro.wmv
http://www.greenenergybc.ca/Assets/PowerPloy_Chapter_01.wmv
Have fun learning knowledge instead of ideology.
I hope you are right about Campbullshit pulling the plug on the Rape of the Rivers crap. But it is really difficult for me to even imagine Gordo doing the right thing ever, so it is hard for me to believe it.
Currently the EAO has suspended the clock on AXOR's environmental review - apparently someone isn't convinced it won't hurt the fish. Hard to imagine why, can't fish spawn in dry creekbeds? The lady fish biologist for AXOR/Purcell Greed Power insisted a year ago or so that the fish would actually benefit from the diversions, dams and turbines. I want whatever drugs she uses!
Here's another link to lots of info re: Glacier/Howser - direct from the Kootenays.
http://eloisecharet.ca/waterwalk.php
The Straight Goods will discover it is on the blogrolls at Waterwalk and the House of Infamy soon..............
Hi Grant,
I've been blogging about this for a while, going back to April of this year with this post-
http://lailayuile.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/news-release-bc%E2%80%99s-private-hydro-projects-not-green-california-utility/
The California issue dates back to 2008,and is not much more than a bump because of the strong relationship between BC and California. I have to agree with Koot- I don't think these projects are dead in the water, as much as I would like to believe it. Take a look at this post from May, that shows the extent of the projects across BC, with links to government listings.
http://lailayuile.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/province-of-bc-criss-crossed-by-independent-power-projects/
Startling to see it like that map,isn't it?
There has been so much money invested into this, that Gordon is not going to let go of this easily,however environmentally disastrous it may be. And to the lady in Campbell river who thinks this is clean wonderfuk power, maybe you should read this links as well. Harrison is the site of many serious environmental infractions,as are most of these projects.Jobs are great, but at what expense? That'a the mentality that got us where we are as a province right now,especially with logging.
http://lailayuile.wordpress.com/2009/05/06/what-the-liberals-dont-want-you-to-find-out-until-after-election-day-documents-obtained-by-cbc-news-show-run-of-the-river-projects-are-breaking-environmental-regulations/
Laila....I am as concerned as everyone about these projects,lets address the issues you brought up...BC/California, Close,says who,Arnie and Campbell are close but Arnie is in as much or more trouble than Campbell is,he has no more clout and will be removed come the next election for govenor of Cali.
Power demand,industrial power demand has fallen off a cliff,BC will haveplenty of juice this year,burrard thermal won`t run at all,so for BC Hydro to go back to the BCUC next spring with a massive power call will be viewed as plain old silly and expensive.
Gordon Campbell made a deal with the devil(Plutonic)....Unfortunately for Campbell the world collapsed,BC can`t absorb any losses for private power,we have no surplus to absorb the losses,Campbell can`t return the money and promises to Plutonic so he is doing two things....
#1)He has made himself and the liberal party so unpopular that they are going down,when Gordon Campbell retires(runs away after the olympics) the party is going to self destruct,ROR will be put on the back-burner.
#2)Campbell is letting the BCUC do his dirty work,you see Laila,the BCUC can`t possibly grant all this new power with a glut of power on the market,and with Burrard thermal as a emergency back-up new expensive power will be shunned.
Here we are half-way through the fall session and no legislation has been brought forward to go-after the BCUC,no announcements regarding private power,no overrules,no nothing,finally Laila,fair is fair,the Campbell Liberals are done next election,maybe sooner,if BC Hydro is losing money because of power buying contracts the NDP can tear the contracts up,so the project and run of river might be in operation and can`t be stopped from operating or power selling but the part about a guaranteed price can beat up and tossed in a court of law.
Campbell knows that,and by the way Laila,there is such a glut of natural gas,trillions of cubic feet of natural gas,natural gas everywhere,if Mr.Pickens couldn`t make a go of wind power neither can Paul Taylor,the push will be to nuclear power,dirt cheap.....
Cheers
Nov. 25/10
So, what's the status now/ WHO WAS RIGHT A YEAR LATER?
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