BC Government

BC LegislatureThe creation of BC’s public power system was a free market Premier’s solution to a problem that free enterprise couldn’t solve: the provision of secure, clean, affordable energy to power the province’s future.

BC Hydro was created in 1961 by Social Credit premier WAC Bennett, who nationalized BC Electric and created a Crown Corporation to generate and distribute the province’s power. Establishing a public utility solved two problems for Bennett: first, it opened the door for major hydro dam power expansion on the Columbia River, as a result of a treaty with the United States; and, second, it ensured that the province’s transmission lines would be extended to new areas of the province where resource development had previously been stalled. The private power producers of the day, determined to maximize return for shareholders, were not interested in either objective.

But creating a public utility in BC became one of our province’s greatest competitive advantages.

The public power strategy produced great dividends for the people of BC, providing a secure, long-term supply of power as well as surplus electricity for export. The sale of surplus power generated significant revenues for the provincial government, which helped support investments in public programs and services such as health, education, and many other areas.

Because BC Hydro generates most of its power from hydroelectric projects, it has tremendous flexibility determining when to buy and sell on the international energy market. Unlike private producers, which drive to increase the cost of electricity and the volume consumed, a public utility can serve other objectives, like conservation and job creation. For 40 years, BC Hydro served those objectives exceptionally well.

In 2001, however, Gordon Campbell’s Liberal government decided to roll back the clock. Not only did the province privatize one-third of BC Hydro’s internal operations, contracting them out to Bermuda-based Accenture Inc., they subsequently split up the hugely successful utility into two corporations: one for power generation (BC Hydro) and one for transmission (BC Transmission Corporation).

The Campbell government then prohibited BC Hydro from generating new sources of power, insisting that all new provincial energy be generated by private sector providers. BC Hydro was required to lock itself into long-term contracts—some up to 30 years—with private power producers. Hundreds of run-of-river (ROR) projects are on the drawing boards or under construction as private companies rush to take advantage of this guaranteed profit opportunity. The end result will be, of course, skyrocketing electricity rates for residential and industrial consumers, along with the loss of one of our province’s greatest assets.

The government has recently released its 2007 Energy Plan, a manifesto to restructure BC’s energy system on a private sector model. The plan assumes a massive increase in energy demand and requires BC Hydro to meet that demand through new contracts with private power producers.

BC Citizens for Public Power—along with thousands of its supporters across the province—is convinced that public power remains the best and only route to energy security for BC.

Further reading: