News

Rebecca Lindall, Globe and Mail, July 29, 2010

David Parkins for the Globe and Mail

Will the Clean Energy Act clear the way for British Columbia to become a significant exporter of clean energy?

Sean Holman, Public Eye, July 13, 2010

A former California assemblyman who spearheaded an effort to increase the use of green energy has said he doesn't think it's likely his state will count British Columbia's run-of-the-river power as renewable.

By Sean Holman, TheTyee.ca, July 8, 2010

Lobbying effort to get 'renewable energy' approval from state's politicians came up empty.

The provincial government has been pushing California to count the electricity generated by British Columbia's independent run-of-the-river power projects as renewable energy -- allowing it be sold at a premium to the state's electric utilities.

the relevance of this item is to point out that a federal panel review will effectively recommend against a project. The panel also observes that "information was presented to the Panel that was not available to the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office."

News Release, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, July 2, 2010

By Fred Glendale And Dallas Smith, Vancouver Sun, June 14, 2010

The Da'naxda'xw, K'omoks and Campbell River first nations have a vision to create one of the most sustainable clean energy developments in North America.

The Kleana run-of-river hydroelectric project, proposed on our traditional territories on B.C.'s central coast, would provide enough clean electricity to power 230,000 homes.

It's a $2.5-billion economic investment that would provide lasting economic and social benefits to coastal communities and all British Columbians.

By Marvin Shaffer, Vancouver Sun, June 14, 2010

New legislation to force energy 'self-sufficiency' on BC Hydro flies under the radar as the hated HST garners public attention

While the HST has captured all the attention, the province's passage of the Clean Energy Act in the recent legislative session is a far more serious matter.

The act will impose billions of dollars of unnecessary costs on British Columbians. It is, simply put, bad legislation.

Katie Findlay, Revelstoke Times Review, June 12, 2010

“Let’s look after our backyard,” said James Knoop at an event hosted by the North Columbia Environmental Society on Monday, June 7.

Jenny Wagler/Staff Writer, Coast Reporter, June 4, 2010

The Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) decried independent power projects (IPPs) as “a scam of epic proportions” to a packed gathering of Coast residents at Roberts Creek Community Hall Thursday evening, May 27, at an event co-hosted by the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of B.C. (COSCO).

By Will McMartin, TheTyee.ca, May 31, 2010

Minister Lekstrom is wrong. Most new energy projects controlled by big firms outside BC.

Blair Lekstrom, B.C.'s minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources, is a small-town guy with small-town values. Self-reliance and entrepreneurship are his watchwords, especially when it comes to the generation of electricity.

By SCOTT SIMPSON, Vancouver Sun, May 28, 2010

VANCOUVER — Proponents of a stalled $2.5 billion independent power project on the central British Columbia coast are suing the province in hopes of getting their 600 megawatt hydro development back on track.

By Will McMartin, TheTyee.ca, 17 May 2010

BC Hydro borrows capital at 1 per cent, private power firms pay 12 per cent or more. Campbell chose builders sure to make green power far more expensive.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," wrote George Santayana, the Spanish-American philosopher.

SCOTT SIMPSON, Vancouver Sun, May 17, 2010

Company struggles with cloudy water while critics portray plant's problems as evidence of lax regulation

Renewable Power Corp.’s Gabe Sentlinger measures the flow of the Tzoonie River as part of calibration for a meter installed to measure cloudiness. The company’s independent power project has been shut down over fears it is polluting a salmon stream. (Photograph by: Files, Vancouver Sun)

Will McMartin, The Tyee, May 12, 2010

When cash-poor Finavera needed backers for its Peace River wind farms, who stepped up? First, an aging Irish tycoon cut his sweet deal, then giant GE gained the 'lions share' of profits

Are you passionate about B.C. politics? If so, you might be able to use the following skill-testing question to amaze your friends, confound your enemies and be a hit at cocktail parties.

Editorial, Courier-Islander, May 12, 2010

It would be unfair to say that the private power project cancelled for the Klinaklini River is the same as the Plutonic Power project proposed for the head of the Bute Inlet.

But it would be safe to say both are huge and would forever alter the environment in which they locate.

It is strange on one hand that Environment Minister Barry Penner, in cancelling the Klinaklini power project, said it would cause too much damage and alterations to the existing environment.

Justine Hunter, Globe and Mail, May 06, 2010

Environment Minister had opposed changing boundaries of nature conservancy to facilitate proposal

A proposed $2.5-billion run-of-river project on the Klinaklini River is dead, dropped from BC Hydro's roster for clean-power contracts one day after Environment Minister Barry Penner vowed to oppose the scheme.

The Kleana power project would have generated two-thirds as much energy as the massive Site C dam that the provincial government has approved on the Peace River.

Claire Trevena and Barry Penner, Hansard, May 6, 2010

C. Trevena: I thank the minister for that answer. I'd like to move on to my last topic with the minister, and that is the issue of independent power projects and, particularly, the Klinaklini project that is being developed. It's a very specific question: whether, when these projects are being developed, land conservancies will be respected in the development of those projects. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

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News Release, Plutonic Power Corp., Fri Apr 30, 2010

VANCOUVER, BC -- April 30, 2010 --- Plutonic Power Corporation (TSX: PCC) and GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE (NYSE: GE), announced today they have signed a 40-year electricity purchase agreement with BC Hydro for the 124-megawatt Upper Toba Valley Hydroelectric Project.

Another great video by Twyla Roscovich on the Get Out Migration. Compare the images from the sea bottom unaffected by fish farms, and adjacent to fish farms.

BC Clean Energy Act (Bill 17)

Backgrounders and Fact Sheets

By Will McMartin, TheTyee.ca, April 19, 2010

For trio of independent power plants, net-profit margin is a whopping 26.8 per cent.

What is an appropriate profit margin for independent power producers (IPPs) who sell clean- or green-energy to BC Hydro and Power Authority?

By Will McMartin, TheTyee.ca, April 19, 2010

For trio of independent power plants, net-profit margin is a whopping 26.8 per cent.

What is an appropriate profit margin for independent power producers (IPPs) who sell clean- or green-energy to BC Hydro and Power Authority?

Kent Spencer, The Province, April 18, 2010

Troubling questions arise about the night five people died when Rutherford Creek bridge was destroyed in a massive rainstorm

Seven-year-old Cole Burnette knows who his father is: He's the man who makes rainbows in the sky. The Burnette family has relied on Cole's youthful faith these past seven years. His father, Jamie Burnette, was killed when the Rutherford Creek Bridge washed away in 2003 during a heavy rainstorm.

Sylvie Paillard, The Chief (Squamish), April 13, 2010

Critics say photos of the Ashlu River taken before and after the installation of a run of river power project shows its destructive nature on the Squamish Valley watershed.