BC’s clean energy exports could eliminate debt & PST but only if we act.

By Mike Chisholm

As a clean energy communications consultant and energy writer, I have spent considerable time in the past few months writing and talking about the economic potential of green energy in British Columbia. As the debate over how to achieve this swirl among private industry, environmentalists, government and concerned citizens, there are fundamentals of our economy that should never be forgotten if we are to adapt to a new clean energy millennium.

BC is a vast province with an abundance of natural resources.  Over the past century and a half our economy has been built on that potential. We have reaped billions of dollars from the forest industry, fishing industry and from our underground minerals such as coal, natural gas, copper, gold and zinc. During the past 150 years, we have exported these resources out of our province, mainly to an energy-hungry United States, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for British Columbians, directly and indirectly and helping to build a strong North American economy.

Now, as the US and the world searches for new sources of energy – this time clean – we again have an enormous potential to become a major supplier, using excess renewable energy, to that US economy during a time of universal economic uncertainty. We have enormous green energy potential in bioenergy, run-of-river, wind, geothermal, tidal, wave and solar energy. And once more, tapping into this can translate into future jobs and economic benefits for our province. But this can only happen if we act.

The Independent Power Producers Association of BC (IPPBC) recently published a study by Pricewaterhouse Cooper that reports that IPP’s could grow BC’s economy by as much as $9 billion by 2020, supporting 87,000 person-years of employment and 9,100 full-time jobs. The study was the latest to show that BC’s mainly untapped reservoir of green energy has the potential to generate a massive amount of money, to put people to work in communities desperate for employment and to help clean up our environment not only here, but in neighbouring jurisdictions as well.

Adding to the growing number of reports is a new study from BC Citizens for Green Energy, released Monday. The study, entitled “A Triple Legacy for Future Generations: British Columbia’s Potential as a Renewable Green Energy Powerhouse” focuses on the export potential of our clean energy resources and what needs to be done to realize this potential.  The study says that if allowed to be fully developed, the “potential for generating renewable green electricity could easily be equal to the current 10,259 megawatts of clean, renewable generating capacity available from BC Hydro‘s hydroelectric dams, and potentially two to three times as much if not more.”

In terms of financial potential for BC from all streams, the study believes by tapping into this abundance of green energy, the province could generate $4.3 billion per year in revenues. This includes revenues from various licenses, taxes and fees paid by IPP’s, net income to BC Hydro/Powerex, and income from carbon credits and offsets.

The optimistic study also believes that income from renewable energy is so great that, over time, the government could actually eliminate the provincial debt (currently $47.8 billion) and eventually the provincial sales tax (PST).

Like any resource in this province, if we properly harness that potential; if we ensure that it is done in an environmentally sustainable way; if we consult with communities and First Nations; and if we put aside our differences and think about the people who live here and the future of this province, both economically and environmentally, then we can achieve at least some of the potential that the BC Citizens for Green Energy study has identified.

BCCGE has provided a list of recommendations on how to achieve this. Some of those include:

• Establish an effective export policy for our renewable resources
• Streamline the green energy approval and permitting process
• Set a number of days within which BC Hydro must award power call contracts
• Establish green energy export capacity targets for 2016 to 2036 and beyond
• Apply all new revenue from green energy exports to paying down debt
• Use revenues from green energy to replace PST after debt paid-off

The BCCGE study appears to be a panacea for all that ails this province financially. Only time and commitment to the clean energy file from government will tell if any of this can be achieved. What is already known is that other jurisdictions such as Quebec and Manitoba are moving forward quickly on this file, signing deals, exporting their excess energy and generating revenues for their citizens.  The model is already established, and it appears the BCCGE isn’t saying anything new.

What is also not new is the knowledge of BC’s renewable energy potential. Everyone – government, industry, environmentalists and the taxpaying public, knows this. What will set us apart is what we will do about it in the next few months.

Mike Chisholm is the founder of PowerlineBC, and Director at SI Communicators.