B.C. Hydro's call for more energy from public and private sources has been shot down by the B.C. Utilities Commission.
 
The B.C. Utilities Commission's bombshell ruling against B.C. Hydro's massive call for clean energy is a rebuke to Premier Gordon Campbell and his power privatization plans, and a victory for ratepayers, NDP's energy critic says.

This week the BCUC refused to endorse B.C. Hydro's long-term call for 3,000 gigawatts of power from public and independent power producers (IPPs) because it was not "in the public interest."

In other words, the BCUC shot down government claims that the province needs more power, NDP energy critic John Horgan told The Province.

Horgan said power purchased from IPP sources would cost up to twice as much as B.C. Hydro energy, sending ratepayer bills through the roof.

"The government has been saying we have this crisis; we need the IPPs or the lights will go out," Horgan said. "Thank goodness we have a regulator that protected ratepayers and stopped Premier Campbell from privatizing power in B.C."

However energy minister Blair Lekstrom says the government is preparing a swift response to the ruling, which could include a legal challenge.

Lekstrom said: "I was surprised by (the ruling). It flies in the face of our agenda to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

After the ruling, IPP investors have run for the exits, leaving a budding industry valued at up to $14 billion after the May 12 election with a dubious future, according to some analysts.

Lekstrom said there is a lot of concern from IPPs wondering if the government's plans will change with the BCUC ruling, but he insists it's full steam ahead.

"We are committed to our clean energy industry and our climate action and energy plans," he said.

NaiKun Wind CEO Paul Taylor, former head of ICBC, told The Province his company had lobbied the BCUC to approve B.C. Hydro's blanket call for power; Naikun was one of about 60 bidding for contracts in the November 2008 call, and can still apply under a different process, he said.

"I found the ruling confusing," Taylor said. "It's totally in conflict with the government's clean-energy policy."

Taylor acknowledged IPP investors are worried.

"You just have to look at ours and (Plutonic Power Corporation's) stock price," he said. "Investors are concerned and trying to understand what (the ruling) means."

Plutonic Power Corporation and its pending $4-billion, 1,027-megawatt proposal on the Bute Inlet north of Powell River had looked a good bet to succeed, but the company saw its share price plummet from $4 to less than $3 following the BCUC ruling.

Company spokesperson Elisha McCallum said Plutonic will not comment on its business prospects until the government and B.C. Hydro respond to the BCUC ruling.

B.C. Hydro says it will return to the BCUC with a revised long-term acquisition plan.

On the investing website stockhouse.com, an apparent Plutonic shareholder with the tag-line Ogopogo0070, offered this comment Wednesday: "This has to be a huge political issue for the Premier. A good chunk of the last B.C. election was over green energy. He won ... Now (Plutonic) can't sell to B.C. Hydro."

Eric Doherty of the Wilderness Committee, an environmental group strongly opposed to run-of-river projects, said the BCUC ruling is "telling B.C. Hydro to put more emphasis on energy conservation and less on energy generation."

scooper@theprovince.com

http://www.theprovince.com/business/fp/BCUC+ruling+against+Hydro+claim+…