It seems logical that a growing population and an expanding economy would need greater supplies of electricity. But de-industrialization and lighting, motor and other efficiencies changed the proposition. Reality over the past 15 years is something difference…
Norm Farrell
Gwen and I raised three adult children in North Vancouver. Each lives in this community, as do our seven grandchildren. Before retirement, I worked in accounting and small business management. Since 2009, I have published commentary about public issues at IN-SIGHTS.CA.
Site C per MW capex 7x that of Egyptian near-shore wind projects
Because domestic demand by BC Hydro’s residential, commercial and industrial customers has been flat since 2005, the need for Site C is doubtful. Because costs of alternative sources of electricity are substantially below the Peace River project, its completion is a mistake…
Saving or foregoing oil dollars is a choice
On the day Jason Kenney’s Alberta announced their single year budget deficit will exceed $24 billion, Norway advises it’s national wealth fund had passed C$1.52 trillion in value…
Good advice ignored
More than ten years ago, economist Erik Andersen and famed commentator Rafe Mair warned that BC Liberals had planted seeds of destruction in the bowels of BC Hydro. Indeed, the seeds germinated, spread invasively and debilitated the once proud utility. Citing five vectors, Andersen concluded the financial position of BC Hydro was headed dangerously downward…
Errors and alternatives
Three years ago, John Horgan’s Government promised the $10.7 billion budget for Site C would be firm, final and effectively managed. Three years before that, Liberal Energy Minister Bill Bennett provided assurance that the $7.9 billion dam budget had been fully reviewed by the world’s top experts. With an overly generous contingency, he said It was final, with nothing left to chance.
In 2020, BC Hydro admits it is uncertain how the dam can be made safe from catastrophe. Consequently, the amount of money needed to complete Site is unknown…
Absent watchdogs
Most journalists, particularly ones occupying the BC Press Gallery, have spent little or no time examining Site C, the costliest public project in BC history. In contrast, I remember daily headlines and aroused commentary when Premier Glen Clark’s government thought ferry construction would invigorate BC’s shipbuilding industry. In financial terms, the bungled fast ferry project was 1/20 the size of Site C, destroyed no valuable farmlands and disrupted no cultural sites…
Site C losses will be massive
With domestic demand in 2020 below that of 2005, the lies of BC Hydro’s spin doctors about demand growth are exposed by the company’s audited sales numbers. Site C power seems promised to natural gas producers and processors at less than 6¢ per KWh, which would result in operating losses at Site C approaching $500 million a year. Those could double if BC’s surplus power is dumped in export markets that are taking advantage of low-cost solar and wind power. With certainty of billions to be lost by completing Site C, the obvious choice is to suspend the project immediately. It would be the least-cost option…
Sarah Cox on CO-OP RADIO
Co-op Radio’s interview with Sarah Cox, the preeminent journalist covering issues surrounding British Columbia’s effort to ensure that NL’s Muskrat Falls is only the second worst hydro-electric project in Canada.
Site C: Government failure to safeguard the public interest
That Ralston, Horgan and colleagues knew about cost pressures and risks three years ago and chose to proceed shows the NDP wholly owns this fiasco. Had Site C been stopped in 2017, the loss would have certainly been less than the difference between the initial budget and the final cost. Probably far less, if lessons from eastern Canada apply…
Private profits but public risks – Updated
Commercialization of small-scale nuclear power has turned out to be far more difficult than investors expected a decade ago. Even one of the world’s richest entrepreneurs cannot finance a multi-billion-dollar program with an uncertain future. Nuclear may play a role in the 2030s but solar, wind and geothermal are viable power sources today…
Scraping the barrel bottom
The Trump campaign suggested journalists to be considered as moderators in 2020 Presidential debates. Jonathan Swan and Chris Wallace were not on the list. These people were…
Self-interest or public interest?
People promoting continuation of “energy self-sufficiency” are really saying that British Columbia should continue giving a unique and costly advantage to one particular industry, a sector that has grown used to taking in close to a billion dollars a year in above-market payments…
You have no choice; you have owners.
George Carlin: “It’s called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”
Privatizing natural resources, by stealth
Despite the NDP promise that resource development must provide a fair return to the public, John Horgan’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources functions just as it did under Christy Clark…
Absolute disregard for transparency and accountability.
Had BC Hydro executives chosen to, the annual report and financials could have been released one to two months ago. Much of the report is boiler plate that is substantially reused each year and key business information is created internally within days of period end…
Words to die by
This comes from a person who got it from a person who got it from a place unknown. Apologies to the original creator but I think it’s worth a look.
Hippocratic oath for policing
Sgt. Jeremiah P. Johnson of the Darien Connecticut Police Department responded to a discussion about the policing industry having its own Hippocratic Oath. Given the extent of misconduct now revealed in North America, this is worthy of wider attention…
When a gun is not your tool
Wife Gwen, who’s practised as an RN for over 50 years, said much the same thing as the nurse in this Seattle demonstration. Perhaps it is time to disarm most of the police and assign nurses to train police in de-escalation techniques.
More destruction of prime farmland
Today, a message from Cedar Isle Farm near Agassis BC landed by email, telling about another effort by real estate developers and their allies in municipal government. The aim is destroy yet more prime farmland. This one is a monster that seems immortal. Locals have thought it dead numerous times in the past 20 years, but it has risen repeatedly…
We tolerate our own racism too easily
Vancouver witnessed a large but peaceful protest against the Floyd killing. It is easier though to be critical of racist behaviour elsewhere than in our homeland…
in-sights.ca 
If you require high standards a good place to look for clarity is Liz Oyer. Liz - Blanche takes down…