It's our power in their backyard
COMMENT: I feel I have to constantly apologize for the short-sighted and unsophisticated text that impersonates the Times Colonist editorials (and columnists!). However, for those of us with a vision for a sustainable energy future for our green island, this kind of interpretation of events is not very helpful. The quest for energy security--reliable, renewable, clean, affordable--gets distorted into a discussion of aesthetics: i.e. "windmills dominating scenic views". - Peter Ronald, BC Sustainable Energy Association
New power lines serving the Island will be quite visible on Galiano and Saltspring
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.