BC Government practices financial punishment

Carole Taylor shouldn't have been dressed in green. She should have been outfitted in black PVC, four inch stilettos, whip in hand. With a BC Hydro representative standing at her side, singing the "hands in my pocket" tune.

British Columbia's so-called green budget made me mad. Not because it wasn't actually green (which it isn't) or that it ignored other issues (which it did). I was annoyed because it was VERY transparent to me what was really going on.

Two and a half cents a litre at the pump or on my home heating bill is nothing. Even the eventual increases to almost 8 cents a litre in 2012 won't really put a dent in my non-existent savings. Hey, I'm a BC resident-I already spend 70% of my income just to have a roof over my head. A few extra pennies really doesn't upset me.

What does upset me is this: under the new carbon tax, fossil based home heating fuels are "punished" while those who heat with electricity are not. Whoohoo, thinks the average consumer. I'll use electricity to heat my home. That way I'll avoid this sneaky tax.

The average BC resident is expected (without the proposed behaviour changes of the carbon tax) to increase their electricity consumption by 1.7% per year for the next three years. Currently, a normal household uses 11,000 kWh of electricity a year. In five years, it'll be up to 12, 000 kWh at that rate.

Well, here's where I have to hand it to the BC government. They are promoting the use of electricity as a green, sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. Use electricity! We make it from hydroelectric dams! It's as green as it can be!

This province, at its current rates of energy consumption, must buy 14.5 % of its electricity from outside its borders. Where does it come from? Alberta (hmmm, now there's a green province) and the US Northwest. Where does the Northwest generate most of its electricity? From the Columbia River. The same Columbia River upon which BC Hydro maintains 4 dams, only two of which have generating stations. The other two dams are part of a 1964 US treaty agreement for flood prevention and electricity generation in the US.

Yep. We build and maintain dams that hold store water, so that when US generating stations need more, we can give it to them. Then, we can buy back the electricity from them to serve our own needs.

BC Hydro currently has several projects underway (including the installation of another turbine at the Revelstoke Dam) which will, in total, add less than 1 GWh of energy to the total annual production. That's less than half a percent of increased production, not even meeting the modest projected consumption rates.

Bottom line: BC residents already consume more electricity than the province can produce at a profit. At a profit, you say? Sure. Because we sell or trade more than 1406 GWh annually to other markets. Between BC consumers and energy hungry neighbours, BC Hydro nets a tidy profit.

Well, apparently it isn't enough, because BC Hydro has proposed rate hikes that will see your electricity bill increase by 13% over the next two years.

So screw buying a hybrid to save yourself money. Buy a wind turbine, build your own dam, and get some solar panels, because BC Hydro has its eye on your wallet. Way to go, Campbell government, for fooling the general public into thinking they are doing the right thing while you rake in massive amounts of profits. Kudos!