JANUARY 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Arguments for wind power grow as Hydro closes in


by PETER MITHAM


DAWSON CREEK – BC Hydro has formally expropriated the 320 acres that Ken Boon, president of the Peace Valley Landowner Association, and his wife, Arlene, farm at Bear Flat in the Peace River valley. Arlene’s family has been on the land for three generations and the Boons will be allowed to work the soil for another two years, but they’ll have to leave their home by May 31 to allow for highway construction. When the work is over, they’ll have full title to 215 acres, of which just 10 acres will be suitable for farming. Approximately 60 acres will have a right of way granted to BC Hydro. BC agriculture minister Norm Letnick says just a few farms are being affected by Site C but the effects carry a high personal cost for the Boons – a cost they believe other BC residents will ultimately face, too.


BC Hydro, according to an analysis the Peace Valley Landowner Association received from McCullough Research of Portland, Oregon, could save $112.7 million annually by halting Site C to build wind and solar projects. Both are cheaper than hydropower, which the McCullough report pegs at approximately 8.4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) compared to 7.2 cents for solar and 6 cents for wind.


Juergen Puetter, president and CEO of Victoria-based Aeolis Wind Power Corp., operates a 102 MW wind farm at Bear Mountain, just outside Dawson Creek. With wind energy among the cheapest sources of power, he doesn’t understand why BC Hydro is pursuing Site C.


“I’m not against hydro power; far from it. It’s a wonderful source of energy,” he says. “[But] the true cost of Site C power is going to be north of 12 cents a kilowatt hour (kWh). With my eyes closed, I can do wind power for 8 cents.”


The higher cost of Site C promises “a financial disaster” for hydro customers in BC, he says, arguing the province’s cost estimates are the result of “smoke and mirrors.”


“It’s a project that, from an economic analysis, really doesn’t make much sense,”


Puetter says. “However, as we all know, BC Hydro is populated by beavers. They want to build dams.”


Bear Mountain is one of the lucky projects; it’s operational. San Francisco-based Pattern Energy Group LP is also nearing completion of the Meikle project near Tumbler Ridge, a 185 MW project that will account for a quarter of BC’s wind generating capacity. However, it also stands to be the last major project built under the 2008 call for power from BC Hydro, which is bulldozing ahead with Site C rather than a new


procurement process from alternative energy providers. The result has been the shelving of the Thunder Mountain (400 MW) and Sundance (250 MW) wind projects, both near Tumbler Ridge, with a combined value of $1.6 billion – well short of the $8.8 billion cost of Site C, which has a maximum capacity of 1,100 MW but which critics say is limited to 540 MW thanks to river flows. BC Hydro has said its receptive to wind energy but only if it’s cost effective and, in any event, the province believes hydro power is meeting its needs.


Ian Baillie, regional director of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, says the province’s attitude stunts the development of wind energy in BC.


“British Columbia has one of the best wind resources in the world, certainly North America,” he says. “[But] you can’t build a wind farm without having a power purchase agreement.” But even if wind power would save farmland in the Peace, is it really the best option for farmers?


Turbines dot the landscape east of Calgary, Alberta, where many farmers installed them with the hope of generating extra revenue. However, the terms of the contracts have just as often left them in the lurch, saddled with up-front benefits and downstream liabilities when the operators go bust. Some have been shocked to find themselves on the hook for the energy required to power the turbines, and others with an obligation to clean up after the wind companies.


Bear Mountain, a site which


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Pattern Energy's 185 MW wind energy project near Tumbler Ridge becomes operational in January, and will represent a quarter of the province’s wind power output. FILE PHOTO


Aeolis touts as still in use by ranchers and recreational users, held many lessons for Puetter, who now believes Crown land is best for the projects.


“If you look at the


controversy about wind power across the rest of North America and Europe, it always occurs when you have close proximity of people and wind farms. They don’t belong together,” Puetter says. “There are a number of proposals to put wind farms onto private land and farms in the Dawson


Creek, Fort St John area, but I think there is a lot of pushback. Probably for good reason.”


By developing remote tracts of Crown land, of which there’s plenty in BC, Puetter believes wind companies can both satisfy the demand for power while not annoying the neighbours.


“We have made it a policy that all our farms are on Crown land away from people. It solves a huge problem,” he says.


Regardless of the merits,


construction of Site C continues, and the expropriation of farmland continues.


Whether or not BC Hydro and the province embrace alternative power and save billions of dollars in generating costs may well come down to the coming provincial election. “The amount of money actually spent is still not that much,” Puetter says. “It is still cheaper for the province to say, ‘We made a mistake,’ shut the whole thing down and use alternative methods.”


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Contact one of our Agriculture Specialists. We’ll take the time necessary to understand your unique needs. Together we can meet today’s challenges and anticipate tomorrow’s opportunities.


Jeremy Siddall District Manager British Columbia 250-763-4241, ext. 305 jeremy.siddall@td.com


Leonard Cardiff Account Manager BC Interior


250-763-4241, ext. 333 leonard.cardiff@td.com


Karen W. Taylor, PhD, MBA, P.Ag. Relationship Manager Abbotsford & Fraser Valley 604-870-2229 karen.w.taylor@td.com


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scott.shields@td.com


Kuljit K. Mann Analyst


Abbotsford & Fraser Valley 604-870-2228 kuljit.mann@td.com


Dave Gill


Account Manager Abbotsford & Fraser Valley 604-870-2224 baldev.gill@td.com


Meagan Beattie Analyst


BC Interior


250-681-4241, ext. 306 meagan.beattie@td.com


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