By Arne Hansen

BC stands to lose major investment dollars, jobs and significant federal government subsidies if the provincial government doesn’t commit soon to accepting more wind-generated energy into the provincial grid.
Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, has approached the BC government with an offer to invest approximately $30 million to build a major wind turbine plant in Squamish. The project would generate 125 to 185 direct jobs in a community hard hit by the loss of BC Rail jobs. But the BC government is stalling on the deal.
“It’s a no-brainer,” says the BC Green Party’s Adriane Carr. “Climate change is now the biggest global issue. Here we have the chance to do our bit to meet Canada’s Kyoto obligations by shifting to clean, green energy and at the same time garner lots of money and jobs. It’s either sheer incompetence or short-sighted favouritism for fossil fuels on the part of the BC Liberals if they don’t say ‘yes’ to this wind energy deal now,” says Carr.
A letter dated December 16, 2004 from Vestas to the BC Minister of Energy and Mines requests a meeting and warns that it has other investment avenues and must get a government decision soon. To secure its investment Vestas asked the BC government to commit to purchasing 1,000 MW of wind power. In a separate deal a 450 MW wind energy project by Sea Breeze on northern Vancouver Island is ready to go except for BC Hydro agreeing to purchase the power.
The government agreeing to purchase 1,450 MW of wind power would help bring sustainable development and good, green jobs to at least two regions of BC that really need it: Squamish and the North Island.
In addition, the federal government has an offer on the table to all provinces to subsidize up to 4,000 MW of new wind power to the tune of about one cent per kilowatt hour. Quebec has leapt on this offer with a guarantee to produce 2,000 MW of wind power and other provinces are moving fast. If BC doesn’t make a decision very soon we stand to lose millions of dollars. The federal subsidy for 1,000 MW of wind power is $87 million a year.
Despite the commitment in its energy plan to target 50 percent of BC’s new energy production as “clean and green,” the BC government’s energy arm, BC Hydro, has accepted only one wind power project, a proposal by Stothart Energy to build a small wind farm near Holberg on northern Vancouver Island.
The BC government should commit to purchasing the 1,000 MW of wind power needed to secure the Vestas project and get going on the Sea Breeze wind project. It should purchase the power at the $0.07 rate it offered the proponents of the Duke Point gas-fired plant near Nanaimo, cancel the Duke Point deal and put BC on a profitable and healthy green energy path.
Gerry Furney, mayor of Port McNeil; Ian Sutherland, mayor of Squamish; and Bill Shepard, chair of the Mount Waddington Regional District all support these power deals and are waiting for positive action on the part of the BC government. It’s time that BC catches up and gets on board with Kyoto and green energy.
Writer and film maker Arne Hansen can be reached at editor@commonground.ca