Former BC Hydro director Gwen Johansson would lose her house and much of her land if the Crown corporation is told to build a $7.9 billion hydroelectric dam on the Peace River.
Johansson told Business in Vancouver the province’s proposed Site C dam, which is being touted as B.C.’s next major power generator, would not only have significant negative effects on her idyllic part of the province but also create power B.C. doesn’t need.
“For sometime now, Site C has struck me as a solution in search of a problem,” Johansson told BIV.
An investigation into the massive power project has uncovered that the government is using suspect electricity demand forecasts to underwrite its need for the dam, and also that the power would cost more than it’s sold for today, a situation one economist called “market failure.”
On top of that, the project has been removed from the scrutiny of the B.C. Utilities Commission, meaning the government’s business plan for the project won’t be subject to an independent review.
Although the province has yet to receive environmental certificates to allow the project to go ahead, Energy Minister Rich Coleman recently told reporters his government is committed to building the dam.
Johansson said it’s an unnecessary expense of taxpayer money.
“Ratepayers ought to be thinking about what they would be willing to pay in future to support a mega-project that we have no evidence is needed,” said Johansson.
Check out this week’s edition of BIV for more about Site C.
Joel McKay
Twitter:jmckaybiv