Regional board seeking talks

Laura Walz, Editor
Powell River Peak
09/27/2007

Powell River Regional District directors will not comment on any more independent power project referrals until they can meet with provincial agency representatives to discuss the impact of the growing number of proposals and transmission lines in the area.

Two new applications from Hawkeye Energy Corporation, for run-of-river projects in the Eldred River and Toba River valleys, triggered motions passed at the September 20 regional board meeting. The new applications follow a previous application made by Hawkeye for a 25-megawatt run-of-river project on the Little Toba River.

Directors want to meet with representatives from the ministry of environment, the Integrated Land Management Bureau, BC Hydro and the BC Transmission Corporation (BCTC).

The motion about the Eldred River application stated that the regional district is "very concerned" about the impact the proposed project will have on tourism, forest harvesting and significant recreational activities. The Eldred River Valley is a popular destination for rock climbers.

Colin Palmer, regional board chairman and Electoral Area C director, pointed out Plutonic Power Corporation has two approved sites and is starting the process for another three. "They will run their private transmission line down to Saltery Bay," he said. "The problem is there are another 29 sites up around Toba and Bute."

In addition to the new proposal from Hawkeye there are six more at the head of Jervis Inlet, Palmer said. "They all want to run transmission lines down to Saltery Bay," he said. "We're going to have six lines all paralleling each other."

Palmer mentioned Greg Hemphill, manager of the Sunshine Coast Forest District, had said at a recent meeting that transmission lines were a topic of conversation among the ministries and there was a right to be concerned.

When contacted by the Peak, Hemphill said there are about 50 proposals throughout the forest district for independent power projects. "We believe that some strategic planning needs to take place in terms of the placement of right-of-way corridors," said Hemphill. "Often, there's a focus on the power-generating facility itself, but from a forestry perspective, the placement of hydro lines is more of a potential significant impact to the timber supply."

Plutonic Power has six projects identified for the Knight Inlet area and 18 in the Bute Inlet area, said Donald McInnes, Plutonic's president. No new transmission lines are required for the three new projects in Toba Inlet, McInnes also said.

The Knight and Bute projects will need additional transmission infrastructure, he said. "We're in the middle of an iterative process right now with BCTC and BC Hydro, and we're going to start having it with the environmental people about what is the best place to put this energy into the grid, and what makes best sense," he said.

He welcomes process, McInnes said, which includes the Powell River Regional District. "We will be as cooperative as we possibly can be to achieve a broader social objective of keeping the lights on in our province, to cease importing dirty, dirty electricity for the health of future generations, while achieving our shareholder objective, which is to build out our projects."

©The Powell River Peak 2007