Beware governments selling/privatizing public owned assets based on political philosophy. The BC Liberals promised not to sell BC Rail or privatize BC Hydro then did. Christy Clark was Gordon Campbell’s Deputy Premier 2001-2005 when selling of BC Rail and privatizing of BC Hydro schemes were devised.
a) Legendary Premier WAC Bennett (Social-Credit gov’t) created BC Hydro Crown Corporation in 1961, who’s primary function was threefold, to Generate, Transmit and Distribute electricity. We enjoyed the lowest electrical rates in North America from clean hydropower until BC Liberals recent privatization, resulting in doubling our electricity rates, (the real purpose of the $1 billion Smart Meter scam) tripling of rates to follow.
b) BCHydro traditionally paid hundreds of millions in dividends every year to our treasury. Today if BCHydro were in the private sector it would be bankrupt.
c) The Liberals prevented BCHydro from generating any more new power, now mandate private IPP’s ‘Independent Power Producers’ monopoly on generating so called clean green power. (e.g. run-of-river, wind, bio-mass, geo-thermal, coal bed methane, tidal etc.)
d) Our public watchdog regulator ‘BC Utilities Commission’ (BCUC) announced that IPP’s were not in the publics interest, so the Liberals brazenly removed their oversight. They also removed BCUC from the ‘Standing Offer Program’, the ‘Feed in Tariff Program’, the ‘Clean Power Request for Proposals’, ‘Site C Dam’, ‘Smart Meters’ and ‘New Generating units on the Revelstoke and Mica Dams’.
e) Sellout of our pristine rivers, streams, (water rights) came with hundreds of private IPP’s and small load Transmission Lines (100-200 metre-wide swaths) hacked through our sensitive parks and wilderness. Many Liberal insiders, ex-cabinet ministers, gov’t. executives, advisers and corporate cronies began to appear as owners and directors of these private IPP Corporations.
This scheme of milking energy dollars and exchanging the peoples natural resources into political donations brought $millions to the BC Liberal Party. Similar game plan as Obama’s $535 million “Solyndra” (and many others) laundering of eco-energy dollars into political donations for the party.
f) They literally sold us down the river by forcing BCHydro to enter into long term ‘Energy Purchase Agreement’ contracts with the IPP’s to buy back their power at as much as 25 times more than BCHydro could produce it themselves. (government math). Example; BCHydro buys hydroelectric power from Alcan in Kitimat (built in the 1950’s) at 10 times more than BCHydro’s cost to generate it and it is our (Kenney Dam) stored water, not Alcan’s.
g) BC Hydro must honour IPP contracts and pay exorbitant rates for power we don’t need at peak river flow times when our dams are so full we have to spill/dump water. (water stored = electrical energy)
At this same time, the power is at its cheapest and we can’t even give it away as the American dams are also overflowing.
h) BCHydro applied to the BCUC for the largest electricity rate increases 55% in history, between 2011 – 2015, and submitted a requirement of 100% revenue increase by 2022. We and future ratepayers are screwed!
i) This political interference has destroyed BCHydro which is now in heavy debt for generations to come, as the Liberals are deceptively using “Rate Regulated Deferral Accounting”, to borrow non-existent money from BCHydro driving it further into ‘deferred’ unrecoverable debt.
j) From 2012 to 2017, and beyond, BC will pay $55+ billion to the IPP’s for overpriced electric power we don’t need and can’t use. This equals our current total Provincial Debt. or 1/4 of our 216 Billion GDP eco
nomy. Add in the $96+ billion ‘Contractual Obligations’ and the province owes a stunning $146+ billion. It’s now impossible for a population of 4.4 million to pay BCHydro’s debt and pay down our provincial debt of $58 billion.
k) The BC Liberals policy is to stay the destructive course, minimize BCHydro’s role and continue privatizing power production which means excessive unaffordable rate increases. If this BC Election on May 14, 2013 doesn’t oust the corrupt Liberals we are toast. It’s come down to what is worse, Liberal (left-centre) corruption or NDP (further left) Socialism. In our case, the socialists NDP are the slower/lesser evil. It’s like a choice of Obama or Putin (can’t use Chavez).
BCHydro, our once Crown Jewel is now a ruined financial basket case.
Roland resides on the West Coast of Canada adjacent to the US border. As a senior taxpayer, he has taken to writing to express his frustrations of government waste, mismanagement, overspending, and other BS extremes. Now a retired grandpa, active with his family and rural lifestyle, he spent his career years as an Architectural Designer, Carpenter and Building Inspector. He promotes good but reasonable environmental practices.
