Alternative BC Hydro Rate Review Identifies Much Needed Changes in Government Policy

This past August, the government released its BC Hydro Rate Review Report in an effort to reduce rate increases. However the report failed to make any strong recommendations on what some felt were the real cost-drivers at Hydro: private power projects and the $1 billion Smart Meter Initiative.

What the panel did recommend was cutting 1,000 jobs at BC Hydro, on top of the over 800 workers at Accenture slated to lose their jobs as a result of Smart Meters and changing contracts. However, their recommendations for job cuts were based on comparing today’s workforce numbers with an artificially low year (2006), and comparing the utility with the Ministry of Transportation instead of utilities in other jurisdictions.

It soon became clear that there were expert perspectives not included in the BC Hydro Rate Review Report. The recent revelations by the Auditor General surrounding deferral accounts and executive bonuses only make it even more urgent that these perspectives be included.

In order to ensure that the government and BC Hydro can make the changes needed for the future of our public utility, COPE 378 has compiled an alternative rate review report: “Policy to Power: Real Solutions for BC Hydro”. You can read the full report here: http://cope378.ca/alternative-rate-review.

Inside you will hear from people who are experts in their fields: SFU Economist Dr. Marvin Shaffer; John Calvert, author of Liquid Gold: Energy Privatization in British Columbia; Public Policy professor and former BC Hydro board member Marjorie Griffin Cohen; and Colin Fussell, formerly a regulatory manager at BC Hydro and expert witness at the BC Utilities Commission.

Each author takes a slightly different look at the situation at BC Hydro, but all arrive at a key conclusion: that the most significant and lasting changes we can make to protect our public utility and achieve affordable rates for families are changes to the flawed policies brought in by the government.

It is my hope that BC Hydro and the BC government will carefully review the conclusions of this alternate rate review in order to make the best decisions for the future of our public utility, and our Province.

David Black
President, COPE 378