The British Columbia government is facing significant pushback over a major energy policy report delivered in late November 2025. Critics, including a broad coalition representing over 300,000 British Columbians, argue that implementing the report's recommendations would drive up the costs of both constructing and running homes and businesses in 2026, exacerbating the province's existing affordability crisis.
Coalition Slams Report as "Tone Deaf" to Affordability Concerns
The B.C. Coalition for Affordable Dependable Energy (B.C. CADE) has voiced strong opposition to the CleanBC Review Report. The coalition's diverse membership includes homebuilding firms, unions, and small business organizations. They contend the report is extremely disappointing and tone deaf to the financial pressures already burdening households, renters, and entrepreneurs amid high tariffs, inflation, and economic uncertainty.
At the heart of the controversy is the report's encouragement for the provincial government to continue allowing municipalities to adopt the Zero Carbon Step Code ahead of provincial schedules. In practice, this move can effectively ban the use of renewable natural gas and conventional natural gas in new construction, creating what critics call an expensive patchwork quilt of regulations across different regions.
The Problem of a Regulatory Patchwork
This municipal-led approach leads to inconsistent rules from one city to the next. Bill Tieleman, writing on the issue, highlights the absurdity: a developer can legally use certain energy sources for a project in Surrey or Port Coquitlam but could be prohibited from doing the same in Vancouver or Burnaby. Each municipality can not only decide to adopt the code early but also choose which stringent level to enforce, dictating the rules for all new buildings.
The coalition argues this approach forces builders, businesses, and residents into a single energy choice—electricity—while ignoring other cost-effective alternatives. This mandate comes at a time when both the provincial and federal governments have removed the consumer carbon tax on natural gas and gasoline.
Questioning Reliability and Cost Amid Power Shortfalls
Critics are also questioning the logic of relying solely on electricity for heating and operations, given B.C.'s recent energy challenges. The province has been forced to purchase over $2 billion worth of electricity from the United States and Alberta in the past two years, much of it generated from non-renewable sources.
This reliance on external power is compounded by a prolonged drought, now in its third year, which has dramatically reduced the water levels needed for B.C. Hydro's hydroelectric dams to generate sufficient power. Even with improved weather, soaring electricity demand from population growth, electric vehicles, bitcoin mining, and industrial expansion continues to outstrip supply.
The central argument from B.C. CADE and commentators like Tieleman is that British Columbians should be trusted to choose how best to meet their energy needs during the transition to cleaner sources. They advocate for a reasonable timeline that balances environmental goals with economic reality, warning that the current recommendations represent the most expensive and least dependable path forward for the province.
