Last week it was reported that the BC Utilities Commission’s (BCUC) decision on BC Hydro’s 2008 Long Term Acquisition Plan (LTAP), released last week, has effectively hindered the provincial government’s movement to privatize BC’s electricity sector.

After almost a full year of hearings, the BCUC issued a ruling determining that the LTAP was “not in the public interest.”

According to a recent report, the BCUC decision represents a significant challenge to the government’s Energy Plan, which called for the province to achieve energy “self-sufficiency” and “insurance” of supply through the purchase of large quantities of electricity. To realize these objectives, the Plan prohibited BC Hydro from generating any new sources of energy and directed its Crown utility to negotiate long-term Energy Purchase Agreements with private power producers.

“The decision is certainly a vindication of our group’s raison d’être and the public awareness activities that we’ve been engaged in for the past seven years,” said Melissa Davis, executive director with BC Citizens for Public Power (BCCPP).

“What we’ve seen, especially over the past several years, is an orchestrated effort to privatize the province’s public utility through a combination of carefully crafted marketing messages, publicity campaigns and legislation. First, the Energy Plan fabricates an energy crisis in BC; next private power is portrayed as synonymous with green energy and, by extension, most viable solution for BC’s energy shortage and the fight against climate change,” she added.

Ultimately, Davis said, the provincial government will need to seriously examine the content of the BCUC ruling with respect to their energy policy.

“Essentially, they are left with two options: either accept the decision of the Commission and concentrate their efforts on conservation and public renewable energy projects that are actually needed, or disregard their own independent regulatory body altogether in order to further advance their privatization agenda. As a government elected by the people of this province, one can only hope that that they will act in the public’s interest.”

MLA Norm Macdonald echoed that sentiment when commenting on the BCUC’s decision.

“The BCUC’s ruling validates the concerns around the economics of BC Hydro’s energy plan,” said Macdonald adding that the ruling also shows that the province needs to do a better job with conservation efforts.

Macdonald said the myth about energy emergency and the lack of power in B.C. has been dealt with with the recent ruling.

“There are a variety of options available to B.C. and, contrary to what the government portrayed in their Energy Plan, we don’t import more than we export.”

Macdonald said that B.C. Hydro remaining a public domain makes sense.

“The Utilities Commission has done a good job of raising the concerns that people here in Golden have been voicing for some time now. We can only hope that the B.C. government respects their decision.”

BC Citizens for Public Power, a grassroots, non-profit organization established in 2002, works to ensure that BC’s electricity system is publicly owned, regulated, and operated by and for the citizens of British Columbia, through mobilization, education, and advocacy.