Terminating Site C Immediately Will Save BC $1.6 Billion
SEPTEMBER 13, 2017 - VANCOUVER, BC – Today the Peace Valley Landowner Association (PVLA) and the Peace Valley Environment Association (PVEA) released a report from McCullough Research, showing terminating Site C and building a renewable portfolio of wind and geothermal would save British Columbia $.7 to $1.6 Billion.
The McCullough Report responds to the BC Hydro Site C Submission and the Deloitte LLP Reports submitted to the BCUC Site C Inquiry.
“It is not financially prudent to finish the Site C project,” says Robert McCullough, Principal of McCullough Research. “The cost of building a renewable based portfolio excluding Site C will be much less costly, and still meets the province of BC’s clean energy goals.”
The findings of Deloitte LLP on Site C delays, cost overruns, and electricity demand and energy generation alternatives are consistent with McCullough Research’s findings and the findings of other acknowledged energy experts, although a number of Deloitte’s estimates are more favourable to Site C than official estimates from elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada.
Key findings can be summarized as follows:
The cost savings of terminating Site C and building a renewable portfolio will be in the billions of dollars.
Terminating Site C and building a renewable portfolio of wind and geothermal would save BC ratepayers $.7 to $1.6 Billion.
The savings would be even greater, from $1.5 to $5.9 Billion if Site C is not on time and on budget. Deloitte found this to be likely to occur given similar recent projects in Manitoba and Newfoundland which had cost overruns of 55% to 90%.
BC Hydro’s demand forecast is vastly overstated.
Deloitte studied previous demand forecasts made by BC Hydro and found that they overestimated past forecasts for electricity by nearly 30.8%. Demand has been flat for many years and there is no basis for this sudden change in trend in the data or in the province of British Columbia’s industrial horizon.
If Site C were completed, BC Hydro will almost certainly lose money on any exports of surplus electricity to the United States because of low export prices.
BC does not need Site C to act as a back-up battery for times when intermittent resources such as wind and solar are unavailable.
The Williston reservoir already plays this role and has sufficient capacity to continue doing so for many decades to come. In fact, it has approximately ten times the usable elevation and almost twenty times the usable area of Site C.
“The findings from the McCullough Report provide solid proof of what experts have being saying for years,” says Harry Swain, Former Chair Site C Joint Review Panel. “British Columbia does not need this power, and even if we did, we have lots of less expensive alternatives.”
“It’s time to put an end to this financially reckless spending,” says Ken Boon, PVLA President. “The McCullough Report provides all the information needed for the BCUC to recommend the NDP government halt Site C immediately. We call on the BCUC to consider the McCullough Report’s new findings in preparing its September 20th interim report and its November 1st final report.”
For further information please contact:
Ken Boon, President, PVLA - 250.262.9014 | pvla@xplornet.com
Robert McCullough, Principal, McCullough Research - 503.784.3758 | Robert@mresearch.com
Harry Swain, Former Chair, Site C Joint Review Panel - 250.882.3731 swain.h@telus.net
