B.C. energy analyst warns of challenges ahead

B.C. may have come to Alberta’s rescue during the latest power shortage, but energy analysts are raising concerns about B.C.’s stock.

British Columbia sent hundreds of megawatts to its neighbouring province over the weekend, as Wild Rose Country faced brown-outs due to extreme winter weather. BC Hydro also sent power to the U.S.

One analyst says the whole situation is a warning sign, and points out energy challenges are likely ahead.

“In the last calendar year, we were a net importer of quite a bit of power because of our drought situation, and that’s really the problem we, in this province, face for the future,” Richard McCandless said, noting Alberta was the one to come to B.C.’s aid.

[2:30 PM] Liza Yuzda

McCandless notes low snowpack, which he says acts like a reserve battery for dams, along with potentially another drought season ahead, makes it challenging to build up power reserves.

“If we’re going to have warmer and drier years, we may be facing a problem having all of our electricity resources in one place, which is hydroelectric. And if the reservoirs get lower, we can’t generate as much power and we have to import more, and that will cost a lot more,” he told CityNews Monday.

“It’s not good for the long-term plans for this government, in terms of moving to net-zero.”

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He says B.C. needs more power, with major high-energy projects, like liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, on the horizon.

“We’re lucky we don’t have carbon-generated electricity, so we can say that’s a benefit. But it’s also a problem in the future if all our eggs are in one basket. which is hydroelectric. We have to treat this as a warning sign and treat what happened last summer, last fall as a warning sign, that maybe our system isn’t as great as we thought it was,” McCandless said.

BC Hydro says the extreme cold in this province drove peak hourly electricity demand to a record high on Friday night, reaching 11,300 megawatts.

“Despite that record-breaking demand, we were able to provide power and not require any imports from the market and we did have enough generating capacity to provide support to our neighbours in Alberta and the Pacific Northwest,” explained BC Hydro spokesperson Susie Reider

“On Saturday, we provided 200 megawatts to Alberta and about 150 megawatts to the U.S. On Sunday night, we provided even more — we provided about 480 megawatts to Alberta.”

Premier David Eby says jurisdictions share when they’re in need, adding B.C. should be proud to have nearly entirely clean energy. He has assured that he’s encouraged BC Hydro to look at maximizing power output ahead of these energy projects.

In a year-end interview with CityNews, Eby said one of the things that kept him up at night was climate change.

The Alberta Energy Service Operator urged people in that province to reduce electricity use over the weekend to avoid potential rotating outages. This came as Alberta dealt with some of the coldest temperatures seen in decades, with Environment and Climate Change Canada warning Calgary and Edmonton residents of wind chills up to -50 and periods of dense ice fog.

Edmonton recorded a temperature of -35 C Sunday, with Calgary at -28 C.

Reider says BC Hydro is preparing at all times for electricity need. With icy conditions once again expected this week in parts of the province, she tells CityNews BC Hydro is watching the weather system “very closely,” with crews standing by to deal with outages and downed lines.

“We do recommend that, if you do have trees or branches that are near a major electrical line … you can contact us and we can provide you with the contact for a certified arborist that can come in and work near those lines and help trim trees. Also, if you’re trying to trim your trees yourself from that small line in your yard that connects from your house, make sure you stay three metres back — yourself and all tools,” she explained.

She says BC Hydro has stepped up its vegetation management program in recent years to identify trees and vegetation that may pose a risk during storms, to deal with them proactively.