BC Hydro released its third quarter report for fiscal year 2024. It is for the three months ended December 31, 2023. Despite the utility’s claims that demand for electricity has been growing steadily, the reported sales figures tell a different story. Instead of 40 percent unit sales growth in 20 years, the number is more like six percent.
In fact, sales to the province’s consumers in the calendar year 2023 were only one percent more than in 2007.
However, the population in British Columbia was growing:
While British Columbia’s population was growing, electricity demand was not. The reasons were deindustrialization and improved efficiency of lighting and devices using electricity. Per capita consumption in BC fell by 21% from 2007 to 2023.
However, flat demand over many years did not dissuade BC Hydro from spending billions of dollars, most of it borrowed.
BC Hydro’s sales to regular customers may have been flat, rates charged most BC consumers have almost doubled since 2007.
BC Hydro’s quarterly financials omit important information but there are real warning signs that suggest water shortages have reduced output. In the nine months of FY 2024, export sales were down by 46 percent and market purchases were up substantially.
Opponents of Site C have argued for years that for future energy needs, BC would have been wiser to commit to wind, solar, and geothermal, instead of expensive hydropower. Would it be smug to suggest the highly paid executives at BC Hydro got this wrong?
Categories: BC Hydro
in-sights.ca 
Once again your presentation of the factual evidence makes it clear that our provincial government has been captured by those who are intent on extracting “economic rent” from an unsuspecting population. “Economic rent” is the formal term used by economists to describe the portion of income a seller gets that would not be paid if intelligent and fair market business was the determinant. “Economic rent” is also a component of income demanded by a monopoly and is supposed to be understood by the likes of the BC Utilities Commission.
Many businesses and investors want to own/operate a monopoly for these “Economic rents” but as second choice they can enjoy these “rents” if it is a monopoly they can get a “secret” contract with, like BC Hydro.
BC Hydro is supposed to be a “Crown Corporation” that serves the interests of the owners first and foremost. The owners are the people of BC but what has evolved instead is a population that has been knowingly transformed into victims.
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Those are very interesting stats Norm that are ignored by most while various alternate perceptions/realities are at play.
The fossil fuel lobby/anti-electrification crowd say we won’t have the power needed for EV’s and such.
BC Hydro is electrifying the gas/oil fields as much as possible as directed by government. As mentioned, this is subsidized power that involves great cost to build the transmission infrastructure all for what will likely be a stranded asset.
Meanwhile in some quarters there is a “hair on fire” sense of panic to get new electricity production and distribution up and running.
It seems to boil down to different special interest agendas trying to rule the roost. Hopefully we don’t get ‘zapped’ by another gold rush of private companies chasing after lucrative power projects as happened under Premier Campbell.
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Indeed the stats are mostly ignored. Some people see them and don’t believe them. The facts seem so contrary to what they’ve been told. BC Hydro’s public relations people and lobbyists have been regularly spinning a different story. Mainstream media pays almost zero attention.
BC Hydro rejected no-growth or slow-growth policies that would have put conservation first and consumer- or district-based wind and solar power generation as a secondary policy. Those concepts had no appeal to people who preferred megaprojects.
Ken, you hit the nail on the head. Special interests, inside and outside BC Hydro, have dictated policy at the utility for years.
I expect ratepayers will again be zapped by private companies scoring new supply agreements. They can present to lenders long-term inflation-protected purchase agreements that are guaranteed by taxpayers, and with little or no equity contribution, they will walk away with nearly 100% financing.
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corporate capture?
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Corporate inertia is at work here. BC Hydro saw steady growth in demand for electricity until 2005. The company had always been preparing for growth and it continued with that mindset even when markets changed.
Another factor is empire-building by the utility’s senior executives. This is when they are chiefly concerned with expanding the operations of their units, their staffing levels, and the dollar value of assets under their control. Implementing ways to benefit consumers gets lesser consideration.
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The problem that arises, as you have amply demonstrated here and elsewhere, when Hydro sells off power to industry at a loss, especially for the enabling of fossil fuel extraction, processing, transport and overseas shipment. The consequences of this folly are already apparent and need not be exacerbated by further development.
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