Vancouver Sun, Page H02, 30-Apr-2004

10 firms want to light up Island

By Scott Simpson

BC Hydro took a giant leap into the future on Thursday with an announcement that 10 private-sector companies are in the running to meet Vancouver Island residents' growing demand for electricity.

The companies were invited to submit detailed bids on projects -- most are driven by natural gas -- that would meet power demand growth on the Island for up to a decade.

Paper producer Norske Skog Canada, which was a strong critic last year of Hydro's plan for an in-house gas-fired generation project near Nanaimo, led the list with seven projects.

The process was set in motion last year when the British Columbia Utilities Commission, attending to arguments from Norske and others, rejected Hydro's proposal to maintain its traditional role as the province's main source of electricity generation by building a gas-fired generating plant near Nanaimo at Duke Point.

The BCUC's ruling sent shockwaves across the province, particularly on Vancouver Island where residents wondered how Hydro would meet a stated deadline of 2007 to boost their power supply -- or face the risk of scheduled and unscheduled blackouts.

However, the Hydro team that evaluated the tenders issued a note expressing confidence that private alternatives would meet the Crown corporation's mandate to provide British Columbians a secure source of electricity.

"The fact that there is a wide range of projects at different locations, from different bidders, indicates that it's going to be a robust process that will lead to a competitive, reliable supply of power for Vancouver Island," the note said.

The proposed projects are scattered all over the island, from Ladysmith to Port Alberni, Campbell River to Gold River.

Epcor Power Development Corporation president Chris Heffring noted that several of the companies, including his, are proposing the same project -- picking up on Hydro's forfeited plan to build a 250-megawatt gas-fired generation plant at Duke Point.

Pristine Power Inc. executive vice president Harvie Campbell said from his Calgary office that Island residents can expect the private sector to deliver a secure, reliable, low-cost source of electricity.

"The criteria required to get through this initial round, in terms of certainty of power delivery, are unheard of in my experience," Campbell said.

"Not only will the people of Vancouver Island see the power on a timely basis, and the security that comes with it, the competitive side of it is going to keep that price low."

Nearly all the projects will be fuelled by natural gas, but Hydro said it has not determined whether they would be fed from an enhancement to the existing Terasen pipeline, or from the approved-but-unconstructed GSX Georgia Strait Crossing project.

Proponents will have until August 13 to submit detailed bids, with the winners gaining 25-year contracts to sell electricity onto Hydro's grid.