After the IN-SIGHTS article BC Hydro second quarter report, fiscal year 2025, retired economist Erik Andersen provided the text shown below the separator line:

For personal survival in the Air Force, I learned in my 20s about the importance of situational awareness. Later, while practicing as an economist, I had to learn about matters that amounted to other kinds of situational awareness.  In my professional world, it was important to find evidence of people walking their talk or not.

This interview shown below was taped years ago. I had evidence that demonstrated negative effects after major chartered banks took over the largest investment dealers in Canada. Concentration of economic power was their objective. Progressive impoverishment of Canadians had already been identified by the Royal Commission on Taxation headed by Kenneth Carter.

After aggressive lobbying by business groups, particularly the oil and gas industry, fairness reforms suggested by the Carter Commission were never implemented. Instead of simplifying the tax system, the government made it more complex.

By the beginning of the present century, the “Greed is Good Gang” infected everything in North America. Before the mortgage-backed bonds fraud of 2008, Enron was the best example. The company shut down power generating capacity to create artificial energy shortages in the American West. Huge increases in prices paid by consumers resulted.

Co-conspirators in this fraud were more than sixty energy traders, including BC Hydro. This shameful conduct was stopped by American regulators and courts. Our provincial government and BC Hydro’s Directors were knowing parties to this fraud. Settling a court action over its illegal activities cost the public utility more than $750 million. Our disingenuous Energy Minister said this massive payout would not raise electrical rates paid by BC residents.

People like Rafe Mair successfully opposed the BC Liberal plan in the early 2000s to privatize BC Hydro. The “Greed is Good Gang” simply switched strategies. They loaded the utility with contracts worth tens of billions of dollars for private electricity, most of it created using public water on public lands. These deals were secret and shielded from public scrutiny. (Please, no arguments. I have a BCUC letter proving what I write.}

Years ago, I was one of the professional economists hearing about the latest BC Hydro service plan and the company’s demand expectations. I challenged the director of forecasting on the projections he used for population growth and for gross domestic product (GDP). He said they were required to accept input from a private, unnamed consultant when calculating how much new electricity the utility should purchase.

The above was what I had in my head going into the video interview below.

The best way to illustrate what all the above means today is to refer to the person who regularly features the reality of BC Hydro financials. We are all shareholders of BC Hydro and guarantors of debts and contracts of this crown corporation. I suggest reading the latest from IN-SIGHTS.CA.

Norm Farrell tells us that sales to heavy industry in the current fiscal year were at an average rate of 6.5¢ per kilowatt-hour. Compare that to the average residential sale price of 11.5¢ per kilowatt-hour. Norm also says that private power producers (IPPs) were paid an average of 10¢ per kilowatt-hour, a number that is 54% more than the average selling price charged heavy industry customers.

I trust the reader will connect the dots and realize that residential customers are paying to subsidize corporations that may not be paying taxes in BC or Canada.

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