Them vs us
Disputing parties in arguments about Site C belong to either of two camps. One is populated by people wanting a share of the billions of dollars to be spent; the…
BC Hydro
Corporate media works for some but not for its audience
Earlier this year, American Bernie Sanders warned us about the failures of corporate media. In How Corporate Media Threatens Democracy, he wrote: …For years, major crises like climate change, the…
Site C Twitter recap
I'd like to see a full inquiry as to how BC Hydro execs and previous BC gov't conspired to manufacture the case for #SiteC — Marc Lee (@MarcLeeCCPA) November 1,…
The Site C choice
British Columbia Utilities Commission will release its second Site C report on November 1. I expect this will provide further information but not a definitive recommendation. But, of course, the…
Utility woes
There is an interesting note in BC Hydro’s quarterly report issued in mid October for the period ended June 30, 2017: These interim financial statements were approved on behalf of…
It will get worse for BC Hydro ratepayers
If you are paying attention to the affairs of BC Hydro, you know the utility is in financial trouble. However, it is electricity consumers that are feeling the pain. Unfortunately,…
Looking forward
I assume that logic and fact will prevail and Site C, the most expensive public project in BC history, will be cancelled. It is a costly disaster but BC Hydro…
Minimum transparency
According to BC’s Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, September 15 was the final day for BC Hydro to make public its quarterly report for the period ended June 30. It…
Site C – building a cesspool, not a reservoir
There are reasons why proponents of Site C, including utility executives and members of the former BC Liberal Government, continue to promote the project despite much evidence that it was…
Blunders, haste and waste
BC Hydro’s Chris O’Riley may be new to the CEO’s chair, but he’s not new to the management of Site C. So, it is astounding that his letter to BCUC…
The Site C money pit
According to Financial Post writer Geoffrey Morgan, BC Hydro sent an October 3 communication to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC). The letter explained why it continues to forecast a surge…
BC Hydro – overdue and unimproved
Policies of British Columbia’s public sector management dictate that: Crown corporations must follow the spirit and intent of B.C. government core policies and procedures and comply with all applicable legislation,…
Buy high, sell low – make up losses with volume
Originally published in December 2014. Is B.C.’s Site C dam a gateway to dirty energy?, Calyn Shaw, CBC News Network, December 22, 2014 The provincial government has made it clear…
Punditry rings hollow
I originally published A false notion in June 2010 and repeated it two years later. It came to mind after Postmedia’s senior west coast pundit wrote B.C. Hydro’s Site C…
We are the losers, who are the winners?
Brady Yauch is an economist at the Consumer Policy Institute (CPI), which identifies itself as “an independent think-tank dedicated to achieving lower costs and greater efficiencies for Canadian consumers, particularly…
Similarities
Muskrat Falls was always a done deal, and a bad one, Pam Frampton, Saint John’s Telegram: One week the project was all about clean energy, the next it was job…
Rising prices have only just begun
During the seventies and eighties, inflation was substantial in Canada. However, BC Hydro was not a major contributor to the rising cost of living. In the 20 years to 2006,…
Falsehood flies, truth comes limping after it
The following article was first published in February. It is still relevant today because, despite a change in government, agents of Site C beneficiaries continue to spread falsehoods trying to…
From the news archives: Site C history – UPDATED
An item previously published at In-Sights but worth reviewing as the BCUC finally gets to examine BC Hydro’s latest mega-project. Large Dams Cost Twice Original Budget, Researchers Say, Bloomberg Business,…
Careless or captured?
When you read or listen to resource industry advocates, especially ones masquerading as objective political pundits, compare their concerns in 2009 about burning natural gas to generate peak-demand electricity to…