A $404 million transmission line that northern B.C. communities say is critical to job creation and economic development has been given the green light.
The 344-kilometre Northwest Transmission Line was approved Friday by Infrastructure Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
It had previously received the green light by the BC Environmental Assessment Review office, and last month, the Tahltan First Nation voted 82% in favour of the plan.
Other First Nations in the region oppose the line, however, including the Gitanyow, which says BC Hydro has not properly consulted the band.
The line will run from the Skeena substation south of Terrace to a new substation near Bob Quinn Lake along Highway 37 in northwest British Columbia. It is considered key to a variety of economic development initiatives and is particularly important to mining.
“The investment and job creation from this transmission line will support regional economic development as well as provide important tax revenue for health, education, and other important services,” said Gavin C. Dirom, president and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration BC.
In 2010, the provincial government identified 25 major exploration projects and proposed mine development in the corridor, and a 2008 study identified $15 billion in investment and 10,700 potential jobs resulting from the power line.
Northern communities, like the town of Stewart, have been withering as the forestry industry has declined and mills have shut down. They are hoping the transmission line and the mining activity it will spark will bring back some of the jobs lost over the last couple of decades. (See “Port Power: Transmission line’s northern renewal prospects could include B.C. ports and Alaskan energy,” issue 117, March 22-28, 2011.)
Nelson Bennett