Lew Edwardson prepared the following item after the webinar prepared by Canada West Forum. Lew is a keen observer of current events and always articulate and accurate when expressing his views.
The Powering the Future forum provided a wealth of useful and timely information, and anyone who hasn’t watched it yet should schedule some time to do so. But be warned; like all worthwhile forums, it will provoke some debate and raise additional questions.
Broadly speaking, Jae Mather argues with examples that British Columbia is at least a decade behind in adopting cutting-edge technology.
Markham Hislop asserts that BC Hydro is focusing on the wrong side of the supply/demand relationship with inadequate direction from the provincial government.
Glen Clark maintains that “we are doing frigging fantastic in British Columbia”; BC Hydro is where it should be, and ratepayers and critics alike should be thrilled with the current situation.
Moderator Damien Gillis did a very good job of directing questions and allocating equal time while displaying his own credentials on the subject matter.
In terms of questions that might jump out at some viewers, perhaps one of the more obvious was when Glen Clark reminded us that BC Hydro, with a couple of exceptions, has a legal obligation to provide service to anyone who shows up and asks for it. As he puts it, that has been true since he’s been alive. But what about those exceptions?
They are recent and significant. While it is true that sections 28 through 30 of the Utilities Commission Act have historically required any public utility to provide service to anyone located within 200 metres of its supply line upon request, the Energy Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 (Bill 31), was narrowly passed in the Legislature in November 2025 with the Speaker of the House voting to break a vote tie. The key amendment to the Utilities
Provision of electricity service for listed purposes
21.1 (1) In this section, “listed purpose” means a purpose listed in subsection (2).
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the provision by a public utility of electricity service for any of the following purposes:
(a) to mine cryptocurrency;
(b) to store or process electronic data, including electronic data used for artificial intelligence;
(c) to produce hydrogen for use outside Canada.
The government described the changes and the rationale thusly:
A new approach ensures electricity access brings greatest benefit to British Columbia
Economic growth and electrification are driving an unprecedented volume of requests to BC Hydro for electricity service from mining, upstream natural gas and LNG sectors, and from emerging energy-intensive industries including artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres. BC Hydro currently has industrial projects in its connection queue for almost 6,800 megawatts (MW), more than six times the total capacity of the Site C hydroelectric project.
Under its existing interconnection policy, BC Hydro is obligated to provide electricity service to potential customers on a first-come, first-served basis, without consideration of what the end use of the power or resultant economic benefit will be. This policy did not contemplate the speed of innovation in the tech sector or emerging energy resources, such as hydrogen production. The rapid scalability of these industries in an electricity system with limited resources requires government intervention and action.
There is a need for the Province to modernize BC Hydro’s interconnection process to prioritize industries such as the natural-resource sector that have long been the backbone of B.C.’s economy and that contribute meaningfully to jobs, long-term economic development and public revenues, while also supporting the expansion of new and emerging industries.
Maximizing the benefits for British Columbia
The energy statutes amendment act, if passed, will amend the Utilities Commission Act and enable government to make regulations to establish a new B.C. electricity allocation framework for industry that:
• prioritizes electricity connections for natural-resource projects that provide the most benefits to people in B.C.; and,
• puts limits on the power available for data centres and AI, and enables hydrogen production for export in a paced way, prioritizing the most beneficial of such projects.
Building out the natural resource sector
The new framework will not impact electricity service or the BC Hydro interconnection process for natural-resource projects, including mining and critical minerals, oil and gas, LNG, manufacturing, forestry and hydrogen for domestic consumption.
• BC Hydro will continue to bring on energy and capacity resources to match demand;
• there will be no limit, or allowance on the amount of power available to these industries; and,
• they will pay the standard industrial rate for electricity.
Supporting emerging sectors
The growth of emerging industries including data centres, AI, and hydrogen for export will continue to be enabled. However, these projects generally provide fewer jobs and revenues for the province than natural-resource projects, while consuming large volumes of power.
To manage this growth responsibly and balance critical energy needs throughout B.C., the Province will introduce changes through regulation that will prioritize electricity service to projects in emerging sectors that provide the greatest benefit for British Columbians, and do so at an appropriate pace.
BC Hydro will launch a competitive call for projects in early 2026 for a two-year period that allocates 300 megawatts (MW) for AI, 100 MW for data centres, and amounts for hydrogen exports that will be set at a later time, as market conditions warrant.
Projects that are applying to the process will be assessed to ensure alignment with B.C.’s economic objectives, such as jobs and benefit to provincial interests, while remaining within the total energy volumes allocated to these specific sectors.
Cryptocurrency mining will remain excluded from this process in line with existing regulations prohibiting new connections for cryptocurrency mining, due to its disproportionate energy consumption and limited economic benefit. New BC Hydro connections for cryptocurrency mining will be banned permanently.
Striking a balance
Data centres and AI can offer tremendous potential for innovation, information technology and data sovereignty, and AI adoption will continue to improve productivity and competitiveness for B.C. industies. However, their rapid expansion and high energy consumption require balanced, forward-looking planning.
A new B.C. electricity allocation framework will encourage investment in natural-resource industries that create well-paying jobs, avoid emissions and keep energy affordable for people in British Columbia. It will also support growth in emerging sectors by prioritizing the projects that deliver the greatest benefit to British Columbia, while ensuring B.C.’s overall energy needs are responsibly and sustainably met.
So, according to the BC government, there are unfulfilled requests for six times the total capacity of Site C lined up, and to satisfy them, rationing must be employed. The 2024 and 2025 Calls for Power, which would presumably close that gap, have obviously not begun to produce yet. They will come on stream between 2029 and 2033. Ratepayers might be forgiven for a bit of unease at this news, especially amid reports that BC Hydro has increasingly relied on imported power due to drought conditions in critical watersheds.
Abandoning the duty to serve principle that has existed for a lifetime in British Columbia in favor of one that demands a customer prove they deserve it is a drastic measure.
We have happily supplied unlimited power to natural resource extractors upon request, knowing full well that they use massive amounts of water and permanently damage the local and global environment. We not only provide the enabling power, but we also subsidize the provision. Why single out the new guys?
The issues surrounding data centre and AI energy use are not unique to British Columbia. They exist across the globe. But there is little doubt that the requests for data centre and AI requirements here would have been fulfilled anyway had the capacity existed. This indicates BC Hydro is running close to capacity. In which case should the province be directing BC Hydro to accelerate supply solutions in order that we are not caught short in the next unforeseen drought or technology advance?
Solutions such as large BC Hydro-owned offshore wind installations in the north, where the very favorable 70% factor is available, as discussed in the forum. Other countries use large offshore technology to great advantage. Why not BC and why not now?
Would it be outlandish to envision the natural resource energy requirements in the north being supplied by such
installations? What impact would that have on the North Coast Transmission Line?
Would mandating solar panels in new home construction help? Germany has achieved massive solar adoption despite having a cloudy climate that is often less sunny than Canada. Solar panels here are highly effective in cool climates, as they function more efficiently in cold, overcast conditions than in extreme heat. Why are we waiting when we need the energy?
These solutions are available, and the pros and cons will be explored in future forums coming soon.
Categories: Energy - Wind
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