BCUC approves VITR - news items

Controversial power-line project gets green light
CBC News, 07-Jul-2006

Tsawwassen angry as high-voltage lines approved
Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun, 08-Jul-2006

Island power remedy gets green light
Andrew A. Duffy, Victoria Times-Colonist, 08-Jul-2006

Tsawwassen residents get ready for more power
CKNW, 08-Jul-2006

Voltage boost in power lines sparks anger
Raina Delisle, The Province, 09-Jul-2006

Tsawwassen takes over from Eagleridge Bluffs in season of discontent
Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun, 11-Jul-2006

GSX Coalition backing transmission line option
Andrea Rondeau, Cowichan Valley Citizen, 12-Jul_2006

Just give the problem to someone else
Les Leyne, Victoria Times Colonist, 13-Jul-2006

It's our power in their backyard
Editorial, Victoria Times Colonist, 13-Jul-2006

Controversial power-line project gets green light

CBC News
07-Jul-2006
Residents of Tsawwassen and the Gulf Islands have lost their bid to block plans for overhead high-voltage power lines through their communities as part of a new link between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

They've been lobbying for an alternative route.

But the B.C. Utilities Commission says upgrading the power lines along the existing route is the most cost-effective way to meet future electricity needs on Vancouver Island.

That would take the line overhead from Ladner to Tsawwassen, then underwater to the Gulf Islands and then overhead again to Vancouver Island.

B.C. Transmission Corporation spokeswoman Donna McGeachie says the line is needed because demand for power on the Island is expected to grow by 50 per cent over the next 20 years.

"It's very important that we have a secure and reliable supply of power in place to meet the needs of residents and businesses on Vancouver Island," she said.

"We were very pleased the commission has approved this very important project."

The residents opposed to the project had argued that the overhead lines pose a potential threat to their health and to their safety.

Daria Zovi, who speaks for a group of Gulf Island residents, says the utilities commission seems to have dismissed all their concerns about the effects of electromagnetic fields.

"They haven't dealt with it," she said. "They said it doesn't determine [if] one project is better than the other."

But the utilities commission says it looked at the potential impact and concluded the risks are within the guidelines of international bodies such as the World Health Organization.

While critics ponder an appeal, the transmission Corporation says it hopes to have the new lines up and running by the fall of 2008.

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Tsawwassen angry as high-voltage lines approved

BC Transmission Corp. can proceed with the cheapest and most direct route when it builds new high-voltage power lines, at a cost of $250-million, to Vancouver Island, the B.C. Utilities Commission announced Friday.

The commission stunned residents of Tsawwassen who opposed the short section of the 67-kilometre project that will run through their community, rejecting arguments that electrical leakage from a pair of new 230-kilovolt lines could threaten their health.

The commission also rejected BC Transmission Corp.n's effort to appease Tsawwassen residents by putting a four-kilometre section of the line underground, saying instead that the line should run overhead as originally proposed -- and along the existing route of the old line it is replacing.

"It is in the public interest that the most cost-effective alternative be selected from amongst the competing alternatives," the commission said in a ruling handed down late Friday afternoon.

The commission also dismissed proposals by a private-sector company, Sea Breeze, to put a power line on an alternative route through Delta, or to connect Vancouver Island to a new power supply originating in Washington State.

Those projects would cost $149 million and $126 million more, respectively, the utilities commission said.

The transmission corporation wants to replace aging, 51-year-old power lines that link Vancouver Island to the mainland electricity grid.

The new lines will carry five times as much electricity as the old ones, which are almost at the end of their useful life and could begin to fail as soon as 2007 -- raising the threat of electrical brownouts during periods of peak electricity demand by 600,000 Island residents.

"Further delay in finding a solution for Vancouver Island customers is not an option that is in the public interest," said the directive from BCUC chair Robert Hobbs and two commissioners.

The BC Utilities Commission, which also regulates BC Hydro, Terasen Gas and ICBC, has the final say on whether the transmission project can proceed, although Tsawwassen residents warned that they are reviewing legal options and considering "civil disobedience" to press their case.

Maureen Broadfoot, a spokeswoman for Tsawwassen residents, said she was "stunned" by the decision.

"They're going with the cheapest, easiest option. They have no consideration of community impacts. We are absolutely shocked. We are appalled. We can't believe it," Broadfoot said in an interview.

"You know, if people have to resort to civil disobedience to stop this thing, they will. This isn't over."

The Tsawwassen group, which goes by the name Tsawwassen Residents Against Higher Voltage Overhead Lines (TRAHVOL), is also "reviewing our legal options to see what can be done" according to Broadfoot.

TRAHVOL's concerns include adverse health effects from living in the vicinity of high-voltage lines, risk of poles collapsing in an earthquake, and diminished property values.

The utilities commission said TRAHVOL had failed to provide any evidence that the old, existing lines were a significant issue in the community.

It said current scientific research "does not support" the group's claim of adverse health effects from living in the vicinity of the high-voltage lines as proposed.

However the commission ordered the transmission corporation to file a public report every two years or less, summarizing the findings of any new international assessments of risks posed by living near electro-magnetic fields.

Broadfoot said the BC Utilities Commission failed to consider community interests.

"My faith in the system and in the commission is gone."

BC Transmission Corporation president and CEO Jane Peverett said BCUC recognized that the Island transmission line was an important project that needed to proceed on a timely basis.

The corporation will now concentrate on the next stage of regulatory scrutiny -- gaining environmental approvals to proceed.

"No project is easy but this decision allows us to proceed in the way that we'd hoped to," Peverett said in an interview.

"I would say we are quite confident in our ability to meet the October 2008 target in-service date for the project, based on this decision."

Peverett also said she did not anticipate any changes that would significantly inflate the $250-million cost of the project.

Total length of the project is 67 kilometres. It includes overhead lines across South Delta, Tsawwassen and several Gulf Islands, and submarine cables along the Strait of Georgia seabed.

ssimpson@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

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Island power remedy gets green light

The B.C. Utilities Commission has approved the bitterly contested $230-million Vancouver Island Transmission Project.

B.C. Transmission Corp. wants to replace aging, 51-year-old power lines that link Vancouver Island to the mainland electricity grid.

New lines will carry five times as much electricity as the old ones, which are becoming unreliable -- raising the threat of brownouts during periods of peak electricity demand by the Island's 600,000 residents.

"Further delay in finding a solution for Vancouver Island customers is not an option that is in the public interest," said the directive from commission chairman Robert Hobbs and two commissioners.

The project must still win approval from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office.

The utilities commission basically approved the project as proposed, but directed that 3.7 kilometres of the line be built overhead through Tsawwassen, instead of underground, to cut $14 million from the cost. The overhead portion of the line -- both in Tsawwassen and on Saltspring and Galiano islands -- has been a source of rancorous debate.

Two groups -- Island Residents Against High-Voltage Overhead Lines and Tsawwassen Residents Against High-Voltage Overhead Lines -- opposed the project's reuse of the existing aerial right-of-way. The Island group argued for an underwater route that circumnavigated the islands, while Tsawwassen residents hoped to have the lines rerouted away from backyards, parks and schools.

Maureen Broadfoot, a spokeswoman for Tsawwassen residents, said the decision is stunning.

"They're going with the cheapest, easiest option. They have no consideration of community impacts. We are absolutely shocked," Broadfoot said. "You know, if people have to resort to civil disobedience to stop this thing, they will. This isn't over."

Jane Peverett, president and CEO of B.C. Transmission, said: "We're pleased to have a decision that lets us proceed with a project we think is very important. We hope the [environmental assessment process] is concluded by the end of the year. If it [is], then construction would start in early 2007."

The utility argued successfully that the project is required because some of the existing submarine cables, which provide about 10 per cent of the electricity used on Vancouver Island, will be unreliable after the fall of 2007.

According to B.C. Hydro, Vancouver Island consumes about 2,100 megawatts of power at any given time, while it has the capacity to produce only 690 megawatts (enough to power 690,000 homes). As on-Island generation makes up about 30 per cent of the peak load, the Island is heavily reliant on the cable system -- especially because the need is projected to increase by nearly 50 per cent by 2025.

The commission dismissed proposals by Sea Breeze Power to put a power line on an alternative route through Delta or to connect Vancouver Island to power originating in Washington state -- projects that would cost $149 million and $126 million more, respectively.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2006

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Tsawwassen residents get ready for more power

CKNW
Jul 08 2006

TSAWWASSEN/CKNW(AM980) - A disappointing decision today for Tsawwassen residents fighting plans for high voltage power lines through their neighbourhood.
The disappointment stems from a BC Utilities Commission decision allowing high voltage power lines to be run through residential Tsawwassen neighbourhoods in order to provide more power to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

Local resident, Maureen Broadfoot says the BCUC and government are ignoring very valid concerns put forward by opponents of the plans.

"These lines aren't in the public interest. Clearly the Utilities Commission and the province have sent a very strong message to any community in this province that community concerns aren't relevant," Broadfoot said.

However, Broadfoot insists their fight is not over.

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Voltage boost in power lines sparks anger

Tsawwassen residents outraged by a decision to boost the voltage of power lines above their homes say they'll resort to civil disobedience that will "make Eagleridge Bluffs look like a tea party."

The decision allowing the B.C. Transmission Corp. to use the cheapest alternative when it upgrades the lines was handed down by the B.C. Utilities Commission Friday.

"If they come in here with their bulldozers, there are going to be senior citizens tied to the poles," said Maureen Broadfoot, spokeswoman for the Tsawwassen Residents Against Higher Voltage Overhead Lines. "It's going to be ugly." Broadfoot also said TRAHVOL will appeal the decision.

The group spent $300,000 and 18 months fighting the $250-million project, which will replace 138-kilovolt lines with a 230-kilovolt infrastructure along the existing route.

BCTC president and CEO Jane Peverett said the lines, which send electricity to Vancouver Island, were built more than 50 years ago and are in desperate need of an upgrade.

Seventy per cent of the Island's electricity is supplied from the mainland, and the Island's needs are expected to grow by 50 per cent in the next 20 years, she added.

Tsawwassen residents say the new lines, which will generate higher levels of electromagnetic fields, will decrease their property value and increase their risk of cancer.

But Peverett said the levels are well within the guidelines set by regulatory bodies such as Health Canada and the World Health Organization.

Broadfoot, a mother of two teens, said the group is "completely shocked and horrified that the province would string up those lines over a school, over parks, over our children. It's completely irresponsible and unethical."

Brian Phillips, director of radiation protection services for the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, said research is inconclusive, but "action is being taken nationally and internationally to investigate the link between childhood leukemia and power lines."

Every two years, the commission will file a report summarizing international findings on health risks associated with power lines.

The project is now undergoing an environmental review. Pending approval, construction will begin in early 2007 and be completed by October 2008.

rainadelisle@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2006

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Tsawwassen takes over from Eagleridge Bluffs in season of discontent

Vaughn Palmer
Vancouver Sun
July 11, 2006

VICTORIA - When provincial regulators approved upgrading a high-voltage line through Tsawwassen last week, they also cleared the way for a major confrontation.

"It's going to be ugly," said Maureen Broadfoot, representative for residents who were trying to banish the power line from their neighbourhood altogether.

She vowed to fight construction in court and on the ground. The resulting protests, she told the Province newspaper, would "make Eagleridge Bluffs look like a tea party."

An obvious point of reference. The fight against widening the Sea to Sky Highway at Eagleridge Bluffs in West Vancouver supplied the best-orchestrated protest of the year. "We want it to be memorable," organizer Dennis Perry declared at one point. "So I'm hopeful it will be a media circus."

Circus-wise, Perry and his associates delivered. In a year of relative peace on the labour relations front, they filled many a news hole with confrontation, wild accusations and general acting-out.

Broadfoot, mindful that an effective sequel needs to outdo the original spectacle, is already promising that the Tsawwassen showdown will include "senior citizens tied to the [power] poles."

But the more relevant comparison is surely on the issue of effectiveness. As successful as the Eagleridge protesters were in generating media coverage, they failed to stop construction.

Their latest, and perhaps final, reversal occurred only last week. The B.C. Court of Appeal unanimously tossed their case against the highway, effectively upholding its validity under the provincial Environmental Assessment Act.

It's a time-consuming and demanding process, the way major construction projects are approved in B.C.

But successive court rulings have vindicated the provincial environment review process by slamming the door on those who refuse to accept the outcome when it goes against what they wanted.

The Tsawwassen power line went through a different process from environmental review, being approved by the B.C. Utilities Commission. But the commission subjected the project to an extensive public review and supported its conclusions in 200-page report.

Not all of the contents can be addressed here.

The commission selected from among several upgrading variations proposed by the provincially owned operator of the existing line, the B.C. Transmission Corp., while rejecting alternative routings from a rival, private operator.

But the key finding, so far as the looming protests are concerned, was the outright rejection of a call for the "removal of the existing lines."

Not surprising that the locals would like the line relocated away from their homes. They worry about health, safety and property values.

But the commission found that the upgraded line, being modernized, would also be stronger and safer.

As for concerns about the impact of electrical transmissions on human health, the report noted that, to date, "scientific research does not support [the group's] assessment of health risks."

On property values, the commission was necessarily blunt. "All but one of the owners purchased their properties after the existing lines were installed," it observed.

Therefore, "the current owners realized the benefit of the reduced cost of their properties when they purchased them." They got their homes at a relative bargain because of the adjacent high-voltage line. They couldn't persuade the commission to relocate the line to somebody else's backyard -- metaphorically speaking -- and thereby reap a corresponding gain in property values.

The locals dismissed the report out of hand, having advised the commission from the outset that they would fight any outcome unfavourable to their demands.

"We will not cooperate with this plan and will continue with litigation and further action," the report quoted Broadfoot as saying.

She and her associates have ample time to get ready for subsequent rounds. Construction is not set to begin until next year, with completion set for spring 2008.

But I'm thinking their best route is probably not with courts or confrontation, either of which would probably end as it did at Eagleridge Bluffs.

Rather, they have a stronger case to make in the political arena. Even in a region where every community faces substantial pressures for growth, Tsawwassen is exceptional.

Increasing traffic on the freeway to the ferry terminal. Increasing traffic on the railway to the coal port. The local native band's proposed development of a sizable tract of agricultural land . . . and now an upgraded power line.

The commission saw no merit in a proposal to bury part of the line, given that the $15-million tab would have to be picked up by electricity ratepayers.

But the B.C. Liberals may see an argument for funding that option from the budget surplus, as a way of mitigating the impact on a community that is being asked to put up with a lot these days.

vpalmer@direct.ca

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GSX Coalition backing transmission line option

By Andrea Rondeau
Cowichan Valley Citizen
Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Vancouver Island residents are entitled to energy connections from the mainland and this is a step in the right direction by BC Hydro, Arthur Caldicott, president of the Concerned Citizen's Coalition, said Monday after the B.C. Utilities Commission approved a $230-million project Friday to replace old power cables that supply Vancouver Island.

The Vancouver Island Transmission Project will replace aging, 51-year-old power lines that link Vancouver Island to the mainland electricity grid.

The new lines will carry five times as much electricity as the old ones, which BC Hydro said have come to the point where there might be brownouts during periods of peak electricity demand by the Island's 600,000 residents.

"We're glad a decision's been made," Caldicott said.

The GSX Concerned Citizen's Coalition was formed by a group of Cobble Hill farmers who didn't want their fields dug up to accommodate a proposed natural gas pipeline that was to run through the area. They ended up taking on and defeating what they called BC Hydro's "gas strategy" which would also have seen a new gas-fired power plant built at Duke Point just outside Nanaimo in an attempt to have more of the power used on the Island, produced on the Island.

According to BC Hydro, Vancouver Island consumes about 2,100 megawatts of power at any given time, while it has the capacity to produce only 690 megawatts, or about 30 per cent of peak load. Further, the need is projected to increase by nearly 50 per cent by 2025.

Caldicott, a founding member of the CCC, said replacing the power transmission cables from the mainland to Vancouver Island was always a power option they championed.

"We are as much British Columbians as anybody else in B.C. and as much entitled to the huge legacy of Hydro-electric power that we have in B.C. as any other British Columbian," he said. "For BC Hydro to kind of unilaterally decide to clip the cables that tie us to the rest of British Columbia and tell us that we have to find some other way of generating our own power is hardly fair."

The system of cables from the mainland has served the Island well for decades and will continue to do so for decades more, he said. "Ensure that that infrastructure is in place and then, by all means, let's talk about other ways of generating electricity locally."

Generating more electricity locally is something that should be done everywhere in the province, he said. "B.C. is just a boundless set of resources for progressive, sustainable, environmentally benign electricity generation. Wind, tide, sun, our rivers; we're one of the most blessed places on the face of the Earth for that and for BC Hydro to have been talking about gas-fired generation on Vancouver Island was ludicrously rear-sighted."

Whether the plan to replace the power cables will happen within the timeline deemed necessary by BC Hydro (by 2007) is not certain, he said, because several groups who have been fighting to have transmission lines placed underground rather than overhead still have the opportunity to appeal.

The Island Residents Against High-Voltage Overhead Lines and Tsawwassen Residents Against High-Voltage Overhead Lines have opposed the idea of simply replacing overhead lines, as they say it is a health hazard.

The project must also still get approval from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office.

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Just give the problem to someone else

Everyone is familiar with the NIMBY syndrome, but we need a new acronym to describe the social phenomenon that's been driving the Vancouver Island power issue.

It's more than just "Not In My Back Yard." It's more like "Use Somebody Else's Back Yard" -- USEBY. Or UNBY -- "Use the Neighbour's Back Yard."

That's what killed the first proposal to deal with the looming electricity shortfall on Vancouver Island -- a natural gas-fired generating plant near Port Alberni.

B.C. Hydro and a partner teamed to do a joint venture deal, but the project stalled when the city wouldn't give the required zoning approval. The prevailing view at the time can be summed up as SINBY -- "Stick It in Nanaimo's Back Yard."

Hydro moved down the road to Duke Point, outside of Nanaimo, and started over with a different partner. To make a long story short, after several years in the approval process, B.C. Hydro got to within one yard of the goal line and then gave up.

There were several factors involved in the expensive surrender, but one of the drivers was the determined opposition from a citizens group that fought the proposed generating plant in every forum that was available.

They didn't just oppose a gas-fired plant, though. They had a constructive alternative. And it was a classic example of moving the problem somewhere else on the grid.

The Island-based citizens' coalition enthusiastically endorsed the proposal that now has Tsawwassen residents ready to storm the barricades -- an upgrade of existing transmission lines.

"By replacing and upgrading the existing power supply, Vancouver Islanders would continue to benefit from reliable, clean, renewable power from B.C.'s hydroelectric dams and other generation," wrote a director of the Georgia Strait Crossing Concerned Citizens Coalition.

The group said upgrading the lines has been a preferred option to the natural gas strategy within Hydro for many years.

"B.C. Hydro should, with all due haste, replace and upgrade the existing electrical transmission lines that link Vancouver Island to the rest of the province," a director of the group wrote in an environmental newsletter in 2003.

The coalition held diligently to that position and advocated it wherever possible for a number of years.

So that's exactly what the transmission corporation set out to do after the Duke Point plan was abandoned. The result so far, of course, is a replay of the earlier arguments, just in a different neighbourhood.

This time it's Tsawwassen residents who are the concerned citizens.

They mounted a vociferous campaign against the new transmission lines, saying they're "unreasonable, unsafe, inadequate ... unreasonably discriminatory."

They've showed up at public meetings where all the concerns boiled into one big self-reinforcing stew of public outrage.

There was avid discussion of all the illnesses supposedly caused by electromagnetic fields, (the project is well within World Health Organization limits), there were tears and anguished apologies to children for subjecting them to all the alleged dangers from the lines already in place.

The fact the old transmission lines have followed a right-of-way through the community that's been in place for 50 years, which is a lot longer than most of the concerned citizens have been there, was downplayed.

The B.C. Utilities Commission released a 299-page decision last week rejecting all their arguments. It said the lines will be safe, they're the cheapest, most effective alternative and they should go ahead.

It just means the status quo in Tsawwassen and south Delta will prevail.

Old transmission lines will be replaced by new ones, some of which may or may not go underground.

Meanwhile, people in the Gulf Islands fought their own battle against the transmission lines, mounting an impressive, well-reasoned argument as to why a completely different proposal crossing from Port Angeles should be picked.

No doubt some of the opponents will head to court now, and then chain themselves to the power poles, as promised in the Lower Mainland. Maybe they'll win the day and this project, too, will collapse.

It would be a classic example of people with the best of intentions defending their own turf against the chance it will be used for the greater good which, from my selfish viewpoint, is keeping the lights on here.

Even if the project proceeds, there will be a one-year period -- starting October, 2007 -- when the Island is officially in a state of emergency management when it comes to power. Any routine failure in the system in that year could develop into a full-scale blackout.

B.C. Hydro bears a lot of responsibility for letting it get to this state. But the continual efforts to push the problem somewhere else on the grid were also in play throughout.

leyne@island.net

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It's our power in their backyard

Editorial
Victoria Times Colonist
13-Jul-2006

Electrical power has to come from somewhere, and it seems that no matter what its source, there will be concerns raised about the impact on the environment.

The B.C. Utilities Commission announced last week that it has approved the $230-million Vancouver Island Transmission Project, which will see the replacement of 51-year-old power lines that link Vancouver Island to the mainland electricity grid.

The new lines will carry five times as much electricity as the old ones, which are almost at the end of their useful life and could begin to fail as soon as next year. That raises the threat of electrical brownouts during periods of peak electricity demand by 600,000 Island residents.

The 67-kilometre line will include lengthy submarine sections and an existing aerial right-of-way, with the line above ground through Tsawwassen and across Saltspring and Galiano islands.

Islands residents had argued for an underwater route around the islands, while Tsawwassen residents argued that the lines should be moved away from backyards, parks and schools. A proposal to bury the line through Tsawwassen, which would have cost $14 million, was rejected.

The commission also rejected proposals from a private company, Sea Breeze Power, to put a power line on an alternative route through Delta or to connect Vancouver Island to a new power supply originating in Washington state. These Sea Breeze proposal would have added $149 million to the bill, while the Washington one would have meant costs would have been $126 million higher.

Thinking only of dollars, we should be happy that the cheapest choice has been selected.

But there is also the question of where power comes from. The Island produces only about 30 per cent of its peak load, so we are dependent on electricity from the mainland to run our lights, computers and so on.

Ideally, the more electricity we produce here, the less need there would be for transmission lines crossing the Gulf Islands. Proposals to generate more power on the Island haven't gone that well, though. Most of us don't like the idea of windmills, as an example, dominating our scenic views.

Still, creating electricity locally makes more sense, in the big picture, than bringing it in from some distant dam.

As the people of Tsawwassen, Saltspring and Galiano would surely tell us, when we get our power from the mainland it simply means that the ugliness is moved to someone else's backyard.

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