Must reading from The Common Sense Canadian by economist Erik Andersen:

Sinister Financial Vectors at BC Hydro

• From 2007 to 2010, there has been a $628 million reversal of net operating income.

• The total volume of domestic (inside BC) sales went from 52,440 GWhs in 2006 to 50,233 units by 2010.

• Debt-to-equity ratio has typically hovered around 70/30 but now is 89/11.

• In fiscal 2007 about $236,000 of capital was used to produce one GWh. By 2010 it took 38% more capital to get the same quantity of energy for domestic customers.

• A December 2009 report from Price WaterhouseCoopers projects that IPP projects will deliver 35,470 GWhs by 2020. The estimated total capital deployed would be $26.144 billion. That translates into $737,074 of new capital to produce one GWh.

• With growth in domestic demand slowing and reversing, BC Hydro embarked on aggressive contracting for energy from IPPs. 

• Sales to outside of BC customers have collapsed, leaving only the captive domestic customers to carry the growing financial burden.