Buying power from the U.S.

[Urbane]

Lots to discuss here. We were told that we didn't need Site C because we had plenty of power but here we are buying power from the U.S. From Castanet:

BC power producers alarmed by plan to buy power from U.S.
Buying power from U.S.?
Nelson Bennett, Business in Vancouver - Jun 30, 2020 / 11:00 am | Story: 304151

The John Horgan government plans to repeal a key energy policy of the Gordon Campbell Liberal government that spawned a multi-billion private power sector in B.C.

Needless to say, private power producers aren’t very happy about Bill 17, which will amend the Clean Energy Act to eliminate a requirement for self-sufficiency in clean power.

The Clean Energy Act leveraged an estimated $9 billion over the past couple of decades in private investment in wind farms and run-of-river projects.

But it locked BC Hydro into long-term power purchase agreements that the Horgan government says is costing British Columbians ratepayers too much. Last week, the Horgan government introduced Bill 17, the Clean Energy Amendment Act.

The amendment will allow BC Hydro, through its trading arm, Powerex, to buy clean power from U.S. states that have greened their grids. It will exclude Alberta from the power trade, however, because Alberta still gets much of its power from coal or natural gas.

“This means BC Hydro will import power from U.S. states like Washington and California and will no longer buy power from B.C. based Independent Power Producers (IPP),” Clean Energy BC states in a press release.

“There are some long-term contracts in place, but some of them are coming up for renewal,” Laureen Whyte, Clean Energy BC’s new executive director, told Business in Vancouver. “And there are others that were in the queue when they suspended the standing offer program."

There are roughly 120 independent power producers in B.C., Whyte said. Once contracts expire, independent power producers who built wind farms and run-of-river projects may be left without a customer, as they may not be able to compete with clean power producers in the U.S.

“There are some (electricity purchase agreements) that will be coming up for renewal, and those companies are very concerned that BC Hydro might not renew the agreement,” Whyte said.

Increased clean power trading with the U.S. might present the opportunity for private power producers to sell their power into the U.S. through Powerex, but it’s by no means clear whether they would even be allowed to access that market through Powerex.

“My understanding is that that’s not an option,” Whyte said.

Bruce Ralston, minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, defends the amendment.

“What the self-sufficiency standard was (intended to do) was to create a market for the independent power producers and they don’t like the change – I get that,” Ralston told Business in Vancouver. “But it’s better public policy.”

He said California produces a lot of solar power during the day. And since it is often surplus to what is needed, it can be purchased at much lower rates than what BC Hydro is obliged to pay B.C. producers under electricity purchase agreements.

“It’s very, very cheap because they produce so much of it,” Ralston said. “It’s clean energy.”

[GordonH]

Isn’t it ironic because of Columbia river deal.
I could be wrong here, to have those dams on Columbia a certain percentage (?) of the power goes south.

[Old Dad]

I seem to remember that the previous NDP government of the 90's was selling power to California. I believe that California stiffed us for around 3.5 billion dollars because they felt we had overcharged them. Does that ring a bell with anybody?

[flamingfingers]

BC Hydro customers set to pay $16B over 20 years for power they likely don’t need: report

By Simon Little Global News
Posted February 14, 2019 12:01 am
Updated February 14, 2019 9:20 pm

WATCH: Report says liberal government forced BC Hydro to sign costly deals

BC Hydro ratepayers are expected to overpay by billions of dollars for electricity it doesn’t need, due to costly and unnecessary contracts with independent power producers (IPP), according to a new report.

Titled “Zapped,” the report made three key conclusions: that BC Hydro bought power it didn’t need, and that had the wrong energy profile; that the power authority paid too much for that electricity; and that BC Hydro did all of this at the behest of the government.

“Government provided clear direction to BC Hydro that resulted in BC Hydro not increasing its own generating capacity and not importing power to meet demand,” the report said.

“Government then adjusted the parameters that drive the energy planning process at BC Hydro, to create the appearance of an urgent need for more firm energy.”

To speed up the signing of electricity deals, the province offered fixed-price contracts with no reference to market value, and signalled that it was ready to pay higher energy prices in the service of speed and volume, the report found.

Much of the power that was purchased was from run-of-river facilities that generate the majority of their energy during spring runoff, when BC Hydro didn’t need it, the report argued.

Of the 105 IPP contracts signed since 2002, 71 were run-of-river.

The report also notes that a number of producers were given protection from inflation, something that could cause the final tab to be higher.

The rest:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4959739/bc-hydro-ipp-report/

[KevinJP]

I thought I would never see the day when we had to import electricity, and from all places, California. WAC Bennett is turning in his grave.

[Urban Cowboy]

Importing from California is only a good story, if we refuse to pay the bill to the tune of a few billion as they did to us.

[Smurf]

We are only buying it because of California's stupidity. This has been discussed a few times previously. Because of all of their solar power California sells it during the daylight hours at a loss just to get rid of it. We buy it below cost and save our water for premium times. At night when California has no solar we sell them our power at much higher rates and make good money doing it. I believe I remember something about restrictions based on green technology but they always find ways around those things when money is involved. As far as I know we are not buying out of absolute need yet and site C will solve that problem hopefully by the time it becomes a problem. The best part of it all is that we have a way out of the terrible IPP's as they come up for renewal. The IPP contracts are the ones that have cost us a fortune. They were way beyond stupid.

[flamingfingers]

^^^^

The best part of it all is that we have a way out of the terrible IPP's as they come up for renewal. The IPP contracts are the ones that have cost us a fortune. They were way beyond stupid.

A-A-AMEN!!!!

[Urban Cowboy]

We are only buying it because of California's stupidity. This has been discussed a few times previously. Because of all of their solar power California sells it during the daylight hours at a loss just to get rid of it. We buy it below cost and save our water for premium times. At night when California has no solar we sell them our power at much higher rates and make good money doing it. I believe I remember something about restrictions based on green technology but they always find ways around those things when money is involved. As far as I know we are not buying out of absolute need yet and site C will solve that problem hopefully by the time it becomes a problem. The best part of it all is that we have a way out of the terrible IPP's as they come up for renewal. The IPP contracts are the ones that have cost us a fortune. They were way beyond stupid.

Only if they pay their bill.

[Smurf]

If they don't pay we don't pay.

I'll bet a few nights in the dark would have the money coming pretty fast. They actually need the power we don't. Lets hear it for solar. If memory serves me right they import about 1/3 of the electricity they use. I also believe they import more than any other state. We are so lucky to have an abundance with more coming.

[bob vernon]

I seem to remember that the previous NDP government of the 90's was selling power to California. I believe that California stiffed us for around 3.5 billion dollars because they felt we had overcharged them. Does that ring a bell with anybody?

And then Gordo Campbell came in and just let it go. He felt it was better to charge us a carbon tax to make up for the lost $3.5 billion.

[motokelowna1]

I hope we charge them for supply of water to power their Hydro schemes that we buy back .

[hobbyguy]

If they don't pay we don't pay.

I'll bet a few nights in the dark would have the money coming pretty fast. They actually need the power we don't. Lets hear it for solar. If memory serves me right they import about 1/3 of the electricity they use. I also believe they import more than any other state. We are so lucky to have an abundance with more coming.

In actual fact, what the NDP are inadvertently setting up is that BC Hydro will get to play "storage facility" for California and their ilk. There is big money in doing that. The areas of the world that went whole hog into intermittent sources, especially solar, are in dire need of storage and it ain't cheap.

I see the "green" ideologues are setting Summerland up to fail in the long run by going into solar. Kimberley already failed at it.

For context, I spotted this article this morning: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-16/ ... d/12461748

"Rooftop solar panel owners could be getting charged fees to sell energy back to the grid"

That's what happens when you go too far into intermittent source generation. Regular folks wind up subsidizing the wealthy. California has the highest levels of "energy poverty" in the western US - by far.

So what BC can do with our hydro power is let California sell us dirt cheap excess solar (or maybe even pay us to take it - Germany has had to do that at times), store more water, then run full tilt in the evenings and sell it back to California at exorbitant prices. That will work within limits, as we do have to maintain river flow minimums. But it will keep our rates low at the expense of California and others who go too far into intermittent source generation.

[Smurf]

I agree. We are in a fantastic position to make lots of money while keeping our rates down. Thanks California!

People are soon going to realize what a disaster solar is in large grids. It has it's place but so far most of it is being used in the wrong ways. I am glad we have basically avoided it in any large amount.

[Smurf]

I don't know if this is the best place to put this but it will work. Let's hear it for solar power as I'm sure California has something to say right now LOL.

snip!

California on Friday ordered rolling power outages for the first time since 2011 as a statewide heat wave strained its electrical system.

The California Independent System Operator (California ISO), which manages the power grid, declared an emergency shortly after 6:30 p.m. and directed utilities around the state to shed their power loads.

Pacific Gas & Electric, the state's largest utility, tweeted that it would turn off power to about 200,000 to 250,000 customers in rotating outages for about an hour at a time. Other utilities were told to do the same.

The emergency declaration ended just before 10 p.m. and California ISO said power had been restored statewide.

snip!

Temperatures were 10 to 20 degrees above normal in some areas, Gonzales said.

In addition, cloudy weather from the remnants of a tropical weather system reduced power generation from solar plants, she said.

https://www.castanet.net/news/World/308 ... since-2011

We also have to remember that they have NO solar power at night, meaning their solar power is of limited value when it is needed the most. Just think of where we would be in the winter time with solar. Short days to begin with and lots of cloudy days on top of that. Who in their right mind would ever want to depend on solar even with backup batteries which would not even get charged on many days.

Limited or no power when you need it most. Sounds like a winner to me. We would definitely be "buying power from the US" not making money off of it like we are now with our buying and selling.

We should be making good $$$ right now selling them any surplus we have. Too bad we don't have more reliable hydro generation available in case it's needed as backup for their unreliable supplies.