After smashing an hourly electricity demand record during extreme weather last Friday, BC Hydro says it can “ramp up or down” its power generation at any given time.
“We plan very carefully for these cold events. We saw the cold snap coming and we ramped up generation, which is something that hydro electricity is great at doing,” Susie Rieder, utility spokesperson, said Monday.
“You can ramp up or down at a moment’s notice.”
On Jan. 13, peak hourly power demand in B.C. reached 11,300 megawatts, breaking December 2022’s record of 10,977 megawatts. The demand was 30-per cent higher than the previous Friday, Jan. 4.
The Crown corporation, which supplies 95 per cent of B.C. residents with power, generated so much electricity it exported some to Alberta and Washington state.
The transfer prevented Alberta from experiencing rolling brownouts — a drop in the magnitude of voltage.
“I’m so grateful to the team at BC Hydro for their careful work managing our power supply so we were able to respond in a moment of crisis,” Premier David Eby said at an unrelated press conference Monday. “I’m glad we were able to do it.
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“With climate change, there’s no question that we’re seeing remarkable extremes in weather.”
BC Hydro can generate about 12,000 megawatts of power at any given time. The Site C Dam is also expected to be fully operational next year, providing the equivalent amount of energy needed to reliably power about 450,000 homes, or 1.7 million electric vehicles per year.
Nevertheless, some critics are concerned about a prospective shortage of power on the horizon for B.C., as more and more residents turn to electric vehicles and heat pumps, and climate change intensifies drought and temperatures.
The province imported a record amount of power last year after 18 months of drought — the equivalent of about two Site C Dams. Last week, the advocacy group Energy Futures Initiative suggested B.C. could become an “at-risk” area for power generation as early as 2026.
“One-fifth of our power last year came from outside of British Columbia,” Barry Penner, initiative chair, told Global News. “We’re not self-sufficient, and there is a risk to not being self-sufficient.”
A December report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation further suggests B.C. is will be at “elevated risk” in 2026, as forecast demand increases and natural gas-fired generation retires, while extreme weather causes above-normal demands during below-normal output periods.
Rieder said right now, heat pumps represent less than 10 per cent of home heating demand in the province.
“The drought situation is more about long-term planning,” she added.
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