Canadian Entitlement available as a low-impact and very low-cost alternative
Fort St. John/Treaty 8 Territory – The Treaty 8 Tribal Association (T8TA) is releasing its recently sent letter to Ministers Bennett and de Jong in relation to the need for and alternatives to BC Hydro’s proposed Site C Project.
Consultants working on behalf of the T8TA concluded that, by taking advantage of low-cost resources allowable under the Clean Energy Act, there would be no need for new electricity resources in BC until 2027. Depending on the very uncertain requirements of LNG facilities and domestic load growth, new resources might not be needed until the late 2030s.
Furthermore, the cost of meeting British Columbia’s energy needs could be greatly reduced by repatriating the Canadian Entitlement under the Columbia River Treaty.
The Canadian Entitlement represents half of the extra power available at generation facilities in the United States that results from reservoirs developed and operated in Canada. On the order to 1300 MW and 4,400 GWh of energy annually, the Canadian Entitlement rivals the 1100 MW and 5,100 GWh of annual energy from Site C.
Owned by the Province of British Columbia, this energy is currently sold into the United States at a fraction of its value to British Columbians. In its most recent budget, the Province projected revenues from the sale of the Canadian Entitlement to be on the order of $160 million per year, or under 4¢/kWh. Creating an equivalent amount of electricity from Site C would cost on the order of $365 million per year. Overall, repatriating even a fraction of the Canadian Entitlement would reduce costs by over $2 billion, compared to developing Site C.
A complete copy of the letter is available on Treaty 8 Tribal Association’s website at http://agoodplace.ca.
Jeff Richert, Treaty 8 Tribal Association:
Office: 250-785-0612
Email: jrichert@treaty8.bc.ca