BC Hydro has often said that demand for electricity in this region is growing at a rate of 40 percent in 20 years. The company claims population increases result in greater consumption of electricity and vested interests tell us the utility must commit to major spending to serve the province.

Self-serving messages are not meant to inform citizens of British Columbia. The intended purpose is to misinform. The strategy works. BC Hydro has been spending tens of billions of dollars because people pay little attention to underlying facts.

Domestic sales of electricity have not been growing as forecast.

Stable demand may surprise since BC’s population is growing.

Improved efficiencies of lighting and equipment and deindustrialization of the province are the primary reasons for flat electricity sales.

Something that is growing significantly is the revenue BC Hydro obtains from its consumers.

Told that demand is rising, BC residents allow the company to spend aggressively. Indeed, BC Hydro has done just that.

Of course, large spending results in large debt growth.

Fifty-four percent of debt growth between March 2009 and March 2023 involves contractual obligations, with almost all of that resulting from BC Hydro’s commitments to independent power producers (IPPs).

IPPs are hungry for more. Resource Works, an industry-funded lobby group is now helping IPPs. Resource Works opened the website https://energyfuturesinitiative.ca/ featuring long-time BC Liberal Barry Penner. It produced a report saying BC’s energy supply cannot meet demand for power.

Resource Works did not choose the name of Penner’s group by accident. It is almost identical to https://energyfuturesinitiative.org/, a credible organization based in Washington DC. Unlike Resource Works, the american organization is led by principals with decades of experience and proven records in government, academia, and private sector business.

David Ellis, Senior Vice President of Policy Strategy & Outreach of the U.S. non-profit mentioned the BC lobby group in a message to IN-SIGHTS:

We are not associated with this organization, and we did not have any awareness of its existence before the recent announcement of its establishment.

BC Hydro, the private power industry, and their agents are on a campaign to convince us that British Columbia is running out of energy. Global TV is helping promote that idea. None of them report on actual demand by the utility’s consumers or separate the company’s trade activities.

Consider that BC Hydro’s capacity to generate hydroelectricity increased by 18 percent since 2007 and purchases from IPPs rose 155 percent between 2007 and 2023. Sales to residential, commercial and industrial customers increased a little over two percent in the 16 years between those periods. Does that sound like BC Hydro is running out of electricity?

Of course, the solution proposed is to spend even more money, and to fund that, require consumers to pay higher prices for electricity This is part of the common effort to privatize public dollars.

As I have written before, executives manage BC Hydro for the benefit of the company, its many consultants and contractors, and the private power industry.