Salmon Arm Mayor Colin Mayes says B.C. relies on a good power source.

Energy will provide the sizzle when 1,500 B.C. mayors and councillors gather in Vancouver today for their 98th annual convention.

A half-dozen power-related resolutions are on the agenda of the Union of B.C. Municipalities five-day conference, including whether electricity in B.C. should be publicly or privately operated.

Mayors from Interior communities such as Ashcroft, Grand Forks, Salmon Arm, Trail and Smithers are firmly on the side of keeping it in the hands of publicly owned B.C. Hydro.

"We want the province to protect people in B.C. from worldwide prices," said Ashcroft Mayor Andy Kormendy. "After all, Americans are protecting themselves with the lumber issue."

Other energy-related issues to be debated include the federal GST tax on home-heating, the price of gasoline and natural-gas rebates.

"The development of this province is based on a good source of power," said Salmon Arm Mayor Colin Mayes.

Ashcroft's 2,000 residents are counting on a guaranteed supply of natural gas to power a new, $40-million shingle-producing plant, said Kormendy.

Although the non-binding resolutions are expected to receive wide support, one Greater Vancouver councillor said she believes deregulation of electricity is "inevitable."

"Deregulation has come to natural gas, the airlines and telephones," said Coquitlam Coun. Maxine Wilson. "How can you stop it? It's a global market and all that that entails. The goal should be to protect people in B.C."

Under deregulation, market forces of supply and demand determine the price of electricity.

The agenda of the UBCM conference at Canada Place contains dozens of resolutions dealing with such issues as the high cost of policing, cross-border air pollution, highway rescue and stream protection.

Another topic will be provincial transfer payments. Municipalities currently receive $130 million per year, but UBCM president Jim Abram said there are fears of more government cutbacks.

"You can't make all these cuts and expect it to be business as usual," Abram said. "How is this going to affect us?"

The conference will be attended by 16 B.C. cabinet ministers. Premier Gordon Campbell will address the civic leaders Thursday.