Stop the Stl’ixwim Renewable Energy Initiative Project in the Tzoonie River Watershed

A cluster of private hydropower projects called the Stl’ixwim Renewable Energy Initiative Project have been proposed for the east shore of the Sechelt Inlet near Egmont, BC.

Some things you should know:

The Powell River-Sunshine Coast area is ground zero for private hydropower projects. Currently, over 180 private power projects are proposed for development in the area; that is more than any other provincial riding in the province. Planning for each project is evaluated on a “one-off” basis, without assessing the cumulative impact of multiple projects on the landscape. Each of these large projects typically involves logging, blasting, and building river diversions, access roads, powerhouses and transmission lines.

The Stlixwim Hydro Corp is proposing to construct a large 62 megawatt private hydropower project that would divert water from the lakes and streams that flow into Narrows Inlet at 19 different points.

Proponents of so called "run of the river" power projects often claim that their projects have lower impacts because unlike traditional hydro, they don't use water storage. However this project does just that, it uses three alpine lakes for "lake storage," and plan to change the natural water levels of the lakes by up to 75 feet.

This development will involve an 8.5 km transmission line that crosses under the Sechelt Inlet, near the mouth of the Skookumchuck Narrows, then crosses over the Caren Range, finally connecting to BC Hydro’s transmission lines near the south end of Ruby Lake. It also involves building three 4 metre high dams.

The BC government has started a gold rush amongst private corporations, who are staking our public streams and rivers for their private power production, even though this power is not needed and is expensive for the public. Over 600 rivers have already been staked by private companies province-wide.

BC Hydro has been ordered by the provincial government to buy power from private producers, and to pass the significant added costs on to the public’s monthly hydro bill.