Eby is fast-tracking a $3 billion-dollar transmission line in northern B.C. to power LNG and other polluting industries.

Jan. 15, 2025

Press Release

B.C. Premier’s plan to fast-track approval of transmission lines for LNG threatens to increase hydro bills

Unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories (Vancouver, B.C.)  — On January 14 during his speech to the Natural Resources Forum in Prince George, British Columbia Premier David Eby announced plans to waive environmental assessments for major electrical transmission projects including two lines to the North Coast that would supply proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals in Kitimat and Gitlaxt’aamiks. These transmission lines are part of a larger $4.7 billion investment in BC Hydro infrastructure in the North.     

“The only logical reason these transmission lines are being built is to supply power to hungry LNG terminals. Which begs the question – who is picking up the multibillion dollar bill for this project?” said Sven Biggs, Oil and Gas Campaign Director at Stand.earth. “Unfortunately the answer is likely regular residential rate payers because the cost of this new infrastructure is going to be passed on to them in the form of higher electricity bills.”        

Environmental and energy policy experts have been raising the alarm about the B.C. government’s plans to electrify LNG export terminals for several years. A 2023 report from the Pembina Institute, a Calgary-based energy policy think tank, projected that electrifying all of B.C.’s oil and gas sector would require the equivalent of 8.4 times the amount of electricity produced by the Site C Dam.

“Premier Eby’s government is going to have to make some hard choices about how to use our limited supply of renewable electricity. Will they use it to power climate solutions like heat pumps, electric vehicles, and new mass transit projects that makes life more affordable? Or, will they choose to use it to power a massive expansion of LNG, fracking, and pipelines?” said Biggs. “Fast-tracking approval of these transmission lines sends a worrying message that the Premier is leaning towards siding with companies like Shell that are backing these terminals, and that the government is going to make British Columbians pay the costs.”     

Using public money to build these transmission lines for LNG is a step backwards on the B.C. government’s commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, after taking a big step forward in 2022 with the cancelation of the province’s largest subsidy, the Deep Well Royalty Credit. The government should require LNG companies to pay for all the costs associated with their projects and should prioritize using the province’s clean electricity supply for powering climate solutions instead of new fossil fuel projects.

More information on LNG in British Columbia is available here. 

Media contacts:

Sven Biggs, Oil and Gas Campaign Director: sven@stand.earth

Liz McDowell, Senior Campaigns Director:  liz@stand.earth

Kathryn Semogas, Canada Communications Specialist, Stand.earth: kathryn.semogas@stand.earth