Everything is relative

The Province of Ontario just announced that it is purchasing new electricity from wind, solar and hydro-electric sources.
 
Good for them to be weaning off coal power. And good for our friends in Ontario for moving to more renewables. However, the announcement puts in focus just how different our electricity picture is in British Columbia.
 
Our electricity is almost 98 per cent clean and renewable already. Twenty-five per cent of our power comes from Independent Power Projects. And yes, in a decade we will be producing new electricity from Site C. But the electricity from Site C will cost 5.8 cents per kilowatt/hour, while the power being purchased in Ontario will cost 8.59 cents for the wind power, 15.67 cents for the solar power and 17.59 cents for the hydro power.
 
The old cliche, "everything is relative" applies to electricity costs. Many of BC Hydro's assets are old and in need of replacement and maintenance, plus new transmission is required to ensure that B.C. retains one of the world's most reliable electricity systems. In response, BC Hydro is investing $2.4 billion a year in improvements to the system. Even with that level of investment, B.C. has the third-lowest residential electricity rates in North America.
 
Site C will ensure that this does not change in the future, while other jurisdictions struggle to move slowly to where B.C. is already at – at considerable cost to their rate payers.

Bill Bennett
Minister of Energy and Mines