'Prudent fiscal managers'...

[flamingfingers]

B.C. Hydro spent $17.5 million to not buy power


BY CASSIDY OLIVIER APRIL 10, 2016 9:02 AM

It cost B.C. Hydro $17.5 million last year to ask eight Independent Power Producers of biomass energy to turn off production because their power was not needed, a sizeable figure that B.C.’s energy minister said actually resulted in millions of dollars in savings for ratepayers.

During estimate debates this week, Bill Bennett, the minister of energy and mines, said it would have cost B.C. Hydro about $26 million to buy the unneeded power from the biomass projects, meaning, he claimed, ratepayers realized savings of about $8.6 million.

Hydro critic Adrian Dix, however, framed the accounting differently, suggesting during the estimates debates that Hydro actually paid millions in contract penalties to the IPPs, which are all connected to pulp mills, to not produce electricity at a time when overall rates are going up.

“They talk about offsetting savings and so on, but what this shows is these are incredibly lucrative contracts and that Hydro has mismanaged the system,” Dix said in a follow-up interview.

http://www.theprovince.com/business/ene ... story.html

[Urbane]

^^ As you know the BC Utilities Commission approved all of those IPP's but once Site C is in place we'll be better off.

[Donald G]

Why whine about BC Hydro not financing IPPs designed to research alternate sources of producing electricity and at the same time profess to criticize BC Hydro for financing IPPs ??

Is that not like complaining about not having a paved road in front of your place and then complaining that the government wasted money paving the road in front of your place ??

It is a good example of the constant "everything is wrong" fiscal attitude of the NDP as a whole.

[Smurf]

Exactly right Urbane plus the fact Gordon Campbell forced them to take those IPP contracts when they should have actually just started site C then and we wouldn't have those contracts. If everyone would stay out of Hydro's business we wouldn't be in this mess. There should be zero IPP contracts to honour and we would be a lot better off. Just imagine if Hydro went private where our rates would go. As it is we are some of the luckiest customers in the world. Is it any surprise some of the ones whose rates are low with us are Quebec and Manitoba who also rely on Hydro power for the majority of power. Manitoba is even building new plants faster than us. Canada is so lucky to have such a resource.

[flamingfingers]

So how does the government propose to get out of the IPP contracts, if ever?

[Smurf]

Donald G » 4 minutes ago

Why whine about BC Hydro not financing IPPs designed to research alternate sources of producing electricity and at the same time profess to criticize BC Hydro for financing IPPs ??

Is that not like complaining about not having a paved road in front of your place and then complaining because the government wasted money paving the road in front of your place ??

Wow is that true. I can actually see where Hydro could finance some small test projects to prove or not their viability, but allowing private industry to build them with huge contracts was just stupid.

[Smurf]

flamingfingers » 2 minutes ago

So how does the government propose to get out of the IPP contracts, if ever?

Probably never. I don't think that was the idea Campbell had when he forced them on Hydro. Actually I don't think he had a clue what he was doing and quite probably neither did the BCUC when they approved them. Maybe this type of thing should be left to the professionals. Is it possible that the BCUC is too worried about cost and does not truly understand the business.

[flamingfingers]

I think Campbell excluded them from BCUC approval - same as Christy did with Site C.

But you can prove me wrong by pointing me to a link of BCUC decisions at around that time......

[Smurf]

So far I have not found anything definite and we are going out, however if you Google BCUC and enter IPP you will get a ton of documents referring to the approval of IPP's.

[Urbane]

I think Campbell excluded them from BCUC approval - same as Christy did with Site C.

But you can prove me wrong by pointing me to a link of BCUC decisions at around that time......

In 2009 the BCUC gave a thumbs down to Campbell's energy plan which included IPP's. Not sure what happened prior to 2009 but I've seen no evidence that the BCUC wasn't involved with approving or not approving IPP's. In my reading I was just reminded that one of the lobby groups that had been pushing hard to stop Site C were the independent power producers.

[flamingfingers]

Urbane wrote:

In 2009 the BCUC gave a thumbs down to Campbell's energy plan which included IPP's. Not sure what happened prior to 2009 but I've seen no evidence that the BCUC wasn't involved with approving or not approving IPP's. In my reading I was just reminded that one of the lobby groups that had been pushing hard to stop Site C were the independent power producers.

Well, have found out that in 2010 the Clean Energy Act was adopted into law and this was part of the outcome:
http://www.lawsonlundell.com/media/news ... pments.pdf

[Urbane]

I know that in 2009 Rafe Mair had a lot to say about how the government was in bed with IPP producers but those same producers wouldn't be very happy now with the government's decision to proceed with Site C.

[flamingfingers]

If their lucrative contracts are maintained, I don't see how they can be anything but really VERY happy! Do you see any indication that their contracts will be terminated once Site C is up and running? Neither do I.

But at least we now see that the IPPs were/are exempt from BCUC approval and how the Liberals changed the rules when they didn't like the rules any more!!

But it still doesn't excuse the waste of taxpayer dollars ($17.5 MILLION)!!

[Donald G]

Unread postby flamingfingers » 13 minutes ago

But it still doesn't excuse the waste of taxpayer dollars ($17.5 MILLION)!!

So the NDP are back to complaining that the IPP are wasting government money. What happened to your NDP demand that the BC Government, through BC Hydro, finance IPPs to encourage and enable them to test other forms of electricity production ??

In NDP theory iot may be possible to do both but in the real world it is called "choose one or the other ... in the real world you can't have both". What you are demanding is not prudent management given the possibilities and limitations.

[Urbane]

But at least we now see that the IPPs were/are exempt from BCUC approval and how the Liberals changed the rules when they didn't like the rules any more!!

Link?