For decades, British Columbians have benefited from clean, reliable electricity at rates among the lowest in North America. The Clean Energy Act will promote the development of new sources of clean power and protect our comparative rate advantage – building on the power of BC.
Human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, have increased levels of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere, accentuating the so-called greenhouse effect and raising global temperatures.
In 2007, the most respected climate experts worldwide issued a report with the most decisive evidence yet on the impact of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made three fundamental conclusions – the earth’s climate is changing, the change is being caused by human activities, and its effects will worsen if no action is taken.
In British Columbia in recent years, we’ve seen the impact of our changing climate all around us. Destructive wind storms, raging wildfires, long summer droughts and massive Interior forests devastated by the mountain pine beetle underline the fact that climate change is the single biggest challenge facing our generation.
How we respond to climate change – both individually and collectively – will shape the future of not just our environment, but also our economy, our society, our communities and our way of life.
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British Columbia is a leader in clean power today as a result of a bold vision undertaken more than a half century ago.
That vision, led by then BC Premier W.A.C. Bennett, foresaw the construction of some of the most ambitious hydroelectric power projects in the world.
With the creation of BC Hydro in 1961, these large-scale dams, notably on the Peace and Columbia rivers, unleashed a wave of economic development throughout the province.
Thousands of kilometres of transmission lines connected this remarkable hydro-electricity generation infrastructure to the lives of British Columbians – transforming our province’s economy and way of life, driving new industry, fostering new businesses and growing strong communities.
And today, as British Columbians look ahead to the future, we can look at BC’s heritage hydroelectric assets with pride. Unlike other provinces and other countries challenged to meet a growing demand for clean electricity, British Columbians will continue to enjoy the many benefits of clean, reliable, competitively priced electricity. Our rates remain among the lowest in North America and our power is over 90% clean or renewable.
The Clean Energy Act builds on this unique advantage.
BC’s clean energy vision – the Power of BC – holds a promise today that is greater than ever before.
For more information, photos and stories on our province’s hydroelectric history visit: http://www.powerpioneers.com/BC_Hydro_History/1962-1972/Stories/history1962-1972_12040301.aspx
British Columbia is blessed with a unique, wide range of electricity resource options to meet our province’s growing demand for energy. Even with BC’s large hydroelectric power assets and our leadership in energy efficiency in conservation, this alone will not meet our future electricity needs. That’s why BC’s Energy Plan looks to other potential supply options for a clean and renewable energy future. These include: bioenergy, geothermal energy, tidal, run-of-river, solar and wind power.
The following outlines each of these options, and their associated financial costs, and environmental and social impacts.
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Resource Options ChartIn the two decades that followed the creation of BC Hydro in 1961, BC undertook some of the most ambitious hydroelectric construction projects in the world. These large-scale dams, notably on the Peace and Columbia rivers, provide an electricity supply to British Columbians that is over 90% clean.
As extensive as they are, BC Hydro's heritage hydroelectric assets will not be enough to provide future generations of British Columbians with electricity self-sufficiency if demand continues to grow as projected—some 20 to 40 percent over the next 20 years.
To deliver on BC's future electricity needs, there is a need to:
- Conserve more electricity;
- Buy more electricity from renewable power projects, such as wind and run-of-river hydro;
- Build more by reinvesting in existing hydroelectric assets and building new resources, such as the Peace River Site C Clean Energy Project.