BC Hydro warns CleanBC goals conflict with grid reliability and power needs

CALGARY — A new filing by BC Hydro to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) reveals that the NDP government’s CleanBC policies are in conflict with the province’s growing electricity demand, grid reliability concerns and economic development.In the May 28 filing, BC Hydro is seeking new contracts for the 275-megawatt Island Generation natural gas plant in Campbell River and the 120-megawatt McMahon natural gas cogeneration facility in Taylor, BC.The utility is also exploring additional gas-fired peaking plants to provide dispatchable power capacity during peak demand, which intermittent renewable sources can’t guarantee."BC Hydro has explicitly validated what many British Columbians have suspected," Barry Penner, chair of the Energy Futures Institute, said."As we've been saying since 2023, shutting down BC's remaining natural gas-fired power plants is risky and does not make sense.".According to the filing, batteries and renewable energy sources alone can’t provide the longer-duration electricity supply required during extended winter cold spells.BC Hydro says that while continued use of natural gas generation is at odds with CleanBC’s goal of sourcing all electricity from non-emitting resources, reliability and energy self-sufficiency must remain top priorities.The filing also highlights the economic benefits that expanding electricity supply could have — estimating mining projects enabled by electricity could add roughly $4 billion annually to BC's GDP and support thousands of additional jobs.Penner — who previously served as BC’s environment minister and attorney general — believes limited electricity sources should be directed toward pushing economic growth rather than policies that increase residential electricity consumption."Scarce electricity should be used strategically," he said."BC Hydro already has more than 7,000 megawatts of job-creating projects waiting in its interconnection queue, such as mines, LNG facilities, ports, and housing projects. Should our limited electricity supplies support jobs and economic growth, or be used to replace plentiful natural gas for home heating, as CleanBC calls for?".BC Hydro's Site C dam begins generating electricity.The filing also shows that in BC Hydro’s October 2025 Integrated Resource Plan, the utility estimated that building electrification policies could add approximately 1,000 gigawatt-hours of annual electricity demand by 2035 and more than 10,000 gigawatt-hours by 2050 — equivalent to the output of approximately two Site C dams.Provincial electric vehicle mandates could add another 5,582 gigawatt-hours of demand by 2040, exceeding the annual production of Site C."Government policy has been simultaneously increasing electricity demand while restricting some of the very options needed to supply it," Penner said.BC Hydro also noted that dual-fuel heating systems — which combine electric heat pumps with natural gas backup — could reduce winter peak electricity demand in the Lower Mainland by up to 75% compared with fully electric systems.However, those systems are discouraged by CleanBC policies.“The BC government could look to the City of Vancouver for rational policy that would take some of the extra pressure off the grid,” Penner said.“But that would require revisiting CleanBC.”On May 21, Vancouver City Council voted to reverse requirements mandating all-electric heating in new buildings and restrictions on replacing natural gas water heaters with gas units."The latest BC Hydro filing states they are now evaluating options such as more large hydroelectric dams, pumped storage, geothermal energy and natural gas peaking plants, along with more intermittent renewables," Penner said."When the lights must stay on, political posturing usually gives way to engineering. That’s because without power, jobs and tax revenues move elsewhere.”

BC Hydro warns CleanBC goals conflict with grid reliability and power needs

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