What’s good for the BC Liberals may not be good for BC Hydro

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Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett announced a five-year, $300 million hydro bill deferment plan for 13 mines owned by six companies.Never mind that B.C. Hydro is already grappling with its own deferral problems to the tune of $5 billion. Make no mistake, there’s a price to pay when B.C. Hydro becomes a political arm of government. The intertwining of self-interests gets complicated, while the interests of ratepayers can take a backseat to political interests. Three of the six companies in Bennett’s deal were highlighted in a December Financial Post article, “Debt risks mount as Canada’s base metal miners sink deep in the hole.”

What’s wrong with this picture?

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What’s really wrong is that BC Hydro has been spending billions on new capacity but producing less power. Demand has not grown since 2005 but purchases from IPPs, between FY 2005 and FY 2015, rose 108% from 6,444 GWh to 13,377. The purchasing is up again in 2016, by about 11%. The cost of IPP power was almost $500 million more in FY 2015 than in 2013.

When you’re determined to reward IPP friends but have too much power and no profitable export markets, you shut down your own low-cost operations…

Know and ‘No’ to LNG

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…To gamble away our world class treasure of a river and the cultural and economic values that are sustained by it for a relatively few short term jobs that will leave us with less than nothing when they end, to give away our birthright to a corporate entity some call the Malaysian Mafia, to imagine that there is anything natural about fracked methane, that thousands of kilometers of pipeline across wilderness will leave streams and rivers and wildlife habitat intact, that massive dredging and construction in the Skeena estuary will have “no significant effect” on salmon and other species, that the earth can somehow afford yet another huge dump of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, or that this will somehow benefit our children and grandchildren, is to live in a dream world.

"A strong message…"

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Canadian bank fined $1.1M for failing to report suspicious dealings, CTV News, April 5, 2016 The federal anti-money laundering agency has levied a $1.1-million penalty against an unnamed Canadian bank for failing […]

Can BC Ferry Services be trusted? UPDATED

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Coastal communities have reasons to distrust the provincial ferry service and its political masters. One issue is discrimination, because people on saltwater pay onerous fares while inland ferry users enjoy free sailing, services that have cost the province over $200 million during Christy Clark’s time as Premier. The intermediate-class ferry new-construction, S-Class refits and the planned LNG fuel facilities are proceeding without full disclosure and public discussion of details. To avoid risk to passengers, BC Ferries has long had a policy of restricting dangerous cargoes to special sailings. Now, they plan to sail with LNG tanker trucks fueling vessels while parked beside customers’ vehicles…

BC’s intended major LNG partner

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130 Canadian and international scientists urged the Trudeau government to reject a recent Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) report that concluded the Petronas-backed Pacific NorthWest LNG project could be built safely for the environment. Joseph Welch’s famous quote could be directed to Rich Coleman: “Have you no sense of decency, sir?

BC Liberals’ special partners

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“I think there is an atmosphere of total terror.”
It’s a story of intrigue, corruption and multiple murders, stretching from the streets of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, to Switzerland, France and the US as well as Hong Kong and Singapore, all the way to Australia’s doorstep. “You know I can’t talk much, he said, because my phone might be bugged”.
The money involved is astonishing…

Late for the party – Updated

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Though it makes entertaining if financially absurd theatre, unfortunately for BC taxpayers, political grandstanding is irrelevant. It offers zero leverage and has no bearing on whether this effort will be seen later as either a brilliant initiative or a barking mad Ponzi scheme. The argument that pushing massive projects like Site C still is “necessary” [says who? what are the facts?] and the belief that all those other LNG fantasies ever were invaluable to taxpayers now looks more like attempts to pretend that the risk of such investments failing simply doesn’t matter. Like a sinking Titanic the bridge believes it can all be managed. Just Remain Calm.

Birds of a feather…

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…a series of overseas investigations into the Malaysian money trail, including one initiated by the F.B.I., are still pending. …activists from across the Southeast Asian nation released a statement condemning the Prime Minister, whose actions, they wrote, “have jeopardized and will sacrifice the future of Malaysia.” …Most Malaysians have resigned to the fact that corruption is a systemic problem but the quantum of the 1MDB allegations has shocked everyone.

Favoured friends

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After the Campbell Liberals were  elected in 2001, influences of special business interests grew rapidly. Under Christina Clark’s leadership, non-renewable resource companies wield great political power and they use it to minimize […]