British Columbia needs to develop a new energy plan as the province’s current power supply has raised concerns among experts, a former B.C. minister says.
Former minister of environment, minister of Aboriginal relations and attorney general Barry Penner, who is now the chair of the Energy Futures Institute, says the current model for B.C. power is too reliant on imports.
“B.C. needs an updated energy plan that acknowledges our current challenges,” Penner said.
“We need to significantly increase made-in-B.C. electricity supply while tempering policies which add strain and costs to our energy systems.”
Penner said B.C. is too reliant on power imports, especially during peak times. However, BC Hydro says that is not the case and that is not true.
“BC Hydro has imported more than twice as much electricity this year than it did last year at this time,” Penner said.
“Last year, net electricity imports reached record levels, amounting to one-fifth of domestic electricity demand.”
In the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s 2024 summer report, the authority said “above-normal demand that coincides with low hydro output could result in a reserve shortage” this summer.
“British Columbia faces operational challenges on multiple fronts, including drought, wildfires, and rapid electrification in the residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors,” the report said.
While B.C. is expected to be able to meet energy demands “under most conditions,” the report said above-normal summer peak load and outage conditions could require “operating mitigations” to reduce consumption. This could be like the energy alerts sent out by the Alberta government this past year.
One such alert, issued by the Alberta Electric System Operator in January, urged Albertans to reduce electricity usage to essentials only to prevent rotating outages.
The alert came a few hours after the operator declared a “grid alert” due to extreme cold, high demand and low imports.
“Relying on our neighbours to bail us out of an electricity crunch is risky as they might have their own shortages,” Penner said.
This risk has been confirmed by the energy reliability authority, which said “external assistance can be at risk during wide-area heat events.”
According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, B.C.’s peak electrical demand has increased by 7.4 per cent in the last year.
That increase is more than half of the maximum output of the still unfinished Site C dam.