Duke Point power plant firm holds off due to legal appeal

Andrew A. Duffy
Times Colonist (Victoria)
15-Mar-2005

With the release of the B.C. Utilities Commission's reasons for approving the electricity purchase agreement between B.C. Hydro and Duke Point Power Corp. come questions of why opponents are intent on taking the decision to the B.C. Court of Appeal.

On March 9, the utilities commission released its reasons for the decision it rendered Feb. 17, approving a 25-year agreement that will see Hydro pay Pristine $45 million annually to provide electricity from a $280 million, 252-megawatt plant to be built at Duke Point in Nanaimo.

"In light of a very strong decision in our favour we are wondering why these groups are trying to delay things," said Jeff Myers, president of Pristine Power which will build and operate the plant.

B.C. Hydro has argued that demand for electricity is increasing on the Island and around the province, and the new plant is needed to meet that demand.

The Joint Industry Electricity Steering Committee, representing B.C.'s largest industrial consumers of electricity, has filed an appeal based on its belief the project exposes Hydro customers to high costs and financial risks.

The Georgia Strait Crossing Concerned Citizens Coalition has appealed on the grounds the commission's decision was biased and predetermined before intervenors had a chance to present evidence at public hearings.

Pristine officials have wondered aloud how the appeal process, which could delay the start of the project until early summer, benefits anyone.

"That the project is a win for Vancouver Island and a win for ratepayers has been confirmed through a rigorous, competitive bidding process, a separate cost effectiveness evaluation, an environmental assessment and an extensive public hearing before the BCUC, an independent regulator," noted Harvie Campbell, vice-president of Pristine Power.

"After the extraordinary amount of checks and balances that this project has gone through, we hope common sense prevails and JIESC and GSXCCC re-examine their approach and stand down from their applications."

That's not going to happen.

Tom Hackney, president of the concerned citizens coalition said the group still believes the utilities commission was biased in favour of the project before the hearing was complete.

"We're not surprised, but disappointed," he said of the decision to approve the deal.

"The last time around when BCUC reviewed the (Vancouver Island Generation Project -- Hydro's own 250-megawatt plant which the BCUC dismissed as too large and too costly) they seemed to be a lot more open to hearing the broader arguments about different approaches to making up the energy shortfall on Vancouver Island.

"This time they really seem to have taken a narrower view."

In its reasons the commission outlined the entire process noting it was open and flexible enough to consider a number of options and was adequate for determining the most cost-effective on-Island generation option.

The commission also backed Hydro's load forecasts which necessitated additional capacity in the range of 150 to 300 megawatts by 2008.

Hydro has maintained the Duke Point project is the best way to provide customers with the reliable capacity required to meet Vancouver Island's anticipated supply shortfall in 2007 when some of the undersea electricity cables that run from the mainland are deemed un-reliable.

"We're very pleased with the reasons for the decision," said Bev van Ruyven, Hydro's vice-president of distribution. "We thought the commission took a very balanced approach."

Myers said at this point the company is holding off breaking ground in Nanaimo for the plant, but they are doing work behind the scenes qualifying contractors and getting permits to be ready for the Appeal Court decision.

The Appeal Court will hold a one-day hearing into the matter April 8 and is expected to decide if there are grounds for an appeal within a week.