BC Hydro will be under a new level of government scrutiny this year as the province conducts a full investigation into the publicly owned utility.
On Thursday, B.C.’s new Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman appointed a panel of government bureaucrats to review BC Hydro and find ways to lessen the impact of rate increases on taxpayers.
The investigation comes a month after the utility filed a formal request to raise rates 32% over the next three years to pay for a $6 billion capital investment program.
“Everything is on the table for discussion,” Coleman told a room full of energy executives at a conference in downtown Vancouver Thursday.
The province plans to examine everything, from financial performance, administrative expenses and cost-containment strategies, to the utility’s governance framework, which includes its board of directors and the effectiveness of its consolidation with BC Transmission Corp.
Review panel members include John Dyble, deputy minister to the premier, Peter Milburn, deputy minister of finance and Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland, associate deputy minister of the environmental assessment office.
“We recognize the value of this corporation to B.C.,” Coleman said. “But we do want to have a good working relationship with the shareholders, that being us … and the people and province of British Columbia.”
The panel is scheduled to report back to the government by the end of June.