Liquid Gold: Energy Privatization in British Columbia

Secure, affordable, reliable energy has been one of British columbia’s most important competitive advantages and a key contributor to the province’s prosperity. BC’s energy costs have been based on the actual cost of production. Under new government policy, future energy will not be generated by BC hydro, but will be purchased from private energy producers. John Calvert shows how BC’s successful public energy system is being supplanted by a deregulated private electrical system. This will effectively transfer control of the system to private interests. It will also expose BC ratepayers to the risks and uncertainties associated with the United States energy market as BC’s system in gradually integrated into the larger Pacific northwest transmission grid–a grid largely controlled by US energy corporations. The government, says Calvert, has gone to extraordinary lengths to provide a supportive financial, environmental, legal and ownership framework to assist the growth of private energy investments in BC.