BC Hydro numbers

By on • ( 3 Comments )

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.

Megaproject madness

By on • ( 6 Comments )

CBC is reporting that three aluminum ships built in British Columbia during the 1990s will be sold or sent to the ship-breakers. Constructed for about 800 million in today’s dollars, the three “fast ferries” are now worth little or nothing more than scrap value. North Vancouver business consultant Rob Arthurs, in collaboration with associates, hopes to resell these ferries and see them returned to use…

Misdirected energy policies

By on • ( 3 Comments )

In 2018, BC Hydro began discouraging the production of solar power in British Columbia. The crown corporation had allowed customers with PV panels a two-way connection to the grid. When consumers fed surplus electricity to the utility, credits were recorded. If credits were not used to buy electricity from BC Hydro within a year, the utility would pay homeowners a price roughly equal to the average rate paid to independent power producers, or about one-half what Site C power will cost if it goes into service in 2025…

Street art

By on • ( 1 Comment )

As 2024 dawns, warmongers, arms dealers, and defenders of genocide show us the depths of human malice. But looking elsewhere, we find street art displaying the heights of human tenderness and creativity.

Greenwashing

By on • ( Leave a comment )

If greenwashing were an appropriate response, Canada would be a world leader in addressing climate change. One well-funded practitioner is Pathways Alliance, a consortium of big Canadian oil companies that Toronto Star says is preaching “industry knows best” when it comes to combating climate change…

Oil tankers in Burrard Inlet

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Proponents of the Transmountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) promise about 34 Aframax tankers will depart each month from the Westridge Marine Terminal on the Burnaby section of Burrard Inlet. After TMX comes on stream, the number of Aframax or Panamax oil tankers visiting Vancouver will rise from about 32 to an estimated 380 Panamax and Aframax tankers or just over one per day. But, can we trust anything Trans Mountain tells us?

You couldn’t stop solar if you wanted to stop solar

By on • ( 6 Comments )

Worldwide solar energy capacity has been growing rapidly. In 2022, it was 150 times higher than in 2006 and more than double the level of 2018 when BC Hydro moved to discourage solar power systems. A tiny proportion of the utility’s accounts was feeding solar power to the grid, but BC Hydro worried about added customers embracing solar, particularly large consumers of electricity…

Seven moral principles

By on • ( 5 Comments )

Professor Robert Reich describes meeting with students to discuss tragic events in Gaza and Israel. It was a mixed group, some Jewish, some Palestinian, and some with other backgrounds. They sought common ground as they examined what basic moral principles were at stake. Conclusions the group determined…

Remembering

By on • ( 12 Comments )

This item was first published in 2010. It reappears with minor editing. I think it might stimulate memories of fellow seniors and alter the minds of people who think the good old days were actually good old days…

Strategic misrepresentation (AKA lying)

By on • ( 8 Comments )

So, who has been responsible for strategic misrepresentation that has damaged BC Hydro? Responsible Ministers and MLAs are driven by love of megaprojects, but they may also have experienced the Dunning-Kruger effect. They were educated by deceptive executives and experts who expected to earn material sums as BC Hydro expanded. The latter group has been successful, perhaps beyond their own expectations.

A captured government

By on • ( 8 Comments )

An excerpt from a newsletter published by a international non-governmental organization is worth attention. Toronto Star reports the Danielle Smith convoy that travelled to the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference in Dubai actually involved 150 government and petroleum industry representatives.,,

Hidden fossil fuel subsidies

By on • ( 2 Comments )

More than a year and a half ago, the BC Government promised to end fossil fuel subsidies. But the second quarter report just issued estimates that royalty credits and infrastructure credits allowed methane gas producers will amount to $495 million in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. More importantly, the province’s report estimates year revenue from bonus bids arising from the sale of petroleum and natural gas rights will be precisely zero dollars in the 12 months ending March 31, 2024.