VICTORIA — Energy Minister Adrian Dix reached deep into the archives at B.C. Hydro this week and revived two projects that had been dormant for decades.
Historical Projects Resurface
The Homathko network of hydro dams, generating stations, and transmission lines at the upper end of Bute Inlet was first identified for development in the 1920s. Site E on the Peace River was selected in the same 1950s survey that identified upstream sites for the W.A.C. Bennett, Peace Canyon, and John Horgan (Site C) dams. Both projects predate the 1960s formation of B.C. Hydro itself.
These projects had been languishing in Hydro’s files alongside other almost-forgotten ventures like Stikine-Iskut, Hat Creek, and Moran Dam, waiting for a government in need. Dix certainly fit that bill on Monday.
Responding to Growing Demand
When asked about the NDP’s former opposition to large-scale and environmentally disruptive hydro developments, Dix cited B.C.’s increasing thirst for clean electricity. “We’ve had flat demand for about 18 years. That’s changing, and we are responding,” he said. “We have a generational opportunity in mining, in clean energy, in our ports to take action. So yeah, we are acting with urgency.”
B.C. Hydro has already invested heavily in wind farms and is exploring solar, geothermal, batteries, and pumped storage. It is even returning to natural gas generation for limited purposes. “In short, we’re looking at all the options,” said Dix.
Nuclear Power Excluded
However, Dix made no mention of nuclear power except in an unfavorable comparison to the cost of Ontario’s development of small-scale modular reactors. Apart from maintaining B.C.’s long-standing no-nukes stance, “we have to be open to all potential sources of generation, including hydroelectric,” he said.
“Large hydro is good for the climate, good for the economy, and we have proven it in B.C. in the past decades.”
Early Review Permits
Dix emphasized that neither Homathko nor Site E has been greenlit. “We are pursuing early review permits to take a look in detail at these projects. It doesn’t mean we’re proceeding with these projects.” But he also left the door open: “Make no mistake about it, we have the workers to do this work and we have the need, the support for climate action that requires continuing our legacy, our strength of clean electricity in this province.”
Both projects were rejected in the past. The Homathko would involve massive development in a relatively pristine coastal area. In 2009, George Heyman—then with the Sierra Club, later an NDP cabinet minister—co-wrote an article in The Vancouver Sun opposing an earlier Homathko proposal by private company Plutonic Power.
