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IPPs need to be shut down
Letter to the Editor
The time until the opening of the polls on May 14 is calculated from 9 a.m., PST, May 3. I submit the following letter to the editor for publication:
Our civilization is doing a good job of killing the oceans with global warming, over fishing, destructive fishing practices and pollution. What little we do in B.C. does not really matter in the greater scheme of things.
We are, however, wreaking ruin on our rivers. We are killing our salmon through the development and operation of run-of-the-river independent power projects (IPPs). For one case, see: http://www.terracestandard.com/sports/205024451.html.
As at Nov. 1, 2012 there were 76 IPPs in operation and selling power into the BC Hydro grid. There are 51 IPPs that have entered into agreements with BC Hydro but are not yet in operation. BC Hydro does not and, after repeated requests, will not disclose the names of these 51 IPPs.
In his election campaign material, Mr. John Horgan of the NDP, likely our next Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas, notes that each purchase agreement with BC Hydro has a term of 25 years. Power is purchased by BC Hydro from the IPPs at some $0.12 per kilowatt hour, twice the amount BC Hydro sells power to its residential customers.
This is another Liberal scandal that must be investigated and, I think, stopped. I suggest a judicial inquiry with a view to shutting down the IPPs. In the long term, our salmon are more important than profit for businesses fortunate enough to acquire the rights to use water from Ms. Clark and her remaining associates. Further, a taxpayer subsidy is not required. It is 263 hours until the polls open on May 14.
Gary Mac Donald, B.A., B.A.Sc. (Min. Eng.), LL.B.
Cranbrook
