| Robert Larson | |
| Vancouver Sun |
The province's new energy plan is full of inconsistencies. BC Hydro will not be privatized, but close to 2,000 employees are being "transferred" to a subsidiary of Bermuda-based Accenture. "Core" BC Hydro assets will not be sold, but providing customer service to residential electricity consumers is not considered to be a core part of BC Hydro's business. The environment will be protected by not building nuclear reactors (you mean they were considering this?), and going back to gas and coal-fired electrical generation. If this is the best this government can do after months of "fine-tuning" its energy policy, we are all in for a lot of trouble!
Robert Larson
Vancouver
| Wayne King | |
| Vancouver Sun |
The provincial government's full- page ad announcing its new energy program is not reassuring (The Sun, page A16, Nov. 26). It's one of those "This won't hurt a bit, dear, and I will always respect you" things.
The devil's in the details, and I want to know why they're going ahead with the Accenture deal when that company has such a terrible track record. It overcharged the Ontario government so much that the attorney general twice publicly censured it, and the government of New Brunswick was so unhappy it paid $2.9 million to get out of its contract with them. Who, but an idiot would deal with such a company?
I would also like to hear more about a story that appeared in The Sun recently concerning a deal to buy power from Burnaby at 40 per cent more than the cost of regular hydro power.
This shows more than anything what we can expect from deals made with private energy producers.
The fact that the rates will be set by an independent B.C. Utilities Commission is a typical Gordon Campbell move to offload responsibility for his policy. Remember that he imposed a teachers' salary deal that the province could not afford, and then offloaded the cost to school districts.
"Hold me accountable" is one of his more famous public statements. But the trouble is, he always arranges things so somebody else can be held responsible. You can be sure that this commission will be loaded with private energy producer representatives.
No, I do not believe. This government, its ministers and its leader have no credibility.
Wayne King
Burnaby
| John Dumas | |
| Vancouver Sun |
Regarding the diminishing of BC Hydro, your readers may find this quote from George Woodcock's book British Columbia, A History of the Province (Douglas & McIntyre, 1990) most interesting:
"Before he could carry out his sweeping plans to harness this power and reap the rewards, [W.A.C.] Bennett had to contend with the obstructionism of the B.C. Electric Company, the private monopoly that produced and distributed most of the power in the province. Fortunately for him, BCE had made itself unpopular by neglecting the rural areas and by charging higher rates than those customary elsewhere in Canada or the American northwestern states. Bennett decided to expropriate the private company and amalgamate it with the old B.C. Power Commission in yet another crown corporation, the B.C. Hydro and Power Authority."
Are we so sure we want private power companies back? Seems they have had their chance once before.
John Dumas
Agassiz