A 2006 British Columbia government initiative to boost the province’s supply of electricity has turned out to be an ill-fated venture for the majority of entrepreneurs who participated in it. Documents recently filed with the B.C. Utilities Commission show that BC Hydro expects the attrition rate among independent power producers who four years ago were awarded electricity supply contracts to reach 63 per cent. Hydro says some projects that are technically still active will be abandoned as rising construction costs over the past four years make them too expensive to pursue, while others have already been cancelled. At least one of the projects on the original list of 38, Dokie Wind, required a secret government-ordered bailout to proceed. Most of the failed and stalled projects are run-of-river hydro. The “industry standard” attrition rate is assumed to be 30 per cent, so Hydro and other utilities assume some projects won’t proceed and plan for that…A Bozeman company that has proposed two small hydroelectric projects on the East and West Rosebud rivers has the go-ahead to conduct feasibility studies. The approval gives the Bozeman-based Hydrodynamics Inc. three years to determine if the hydro projects would be feasible. Last winter, when the public first got wind of the proposals, several area residents sent comments to FERC. They cited concerns about potential effects on fish and the aesthetics of the area. The public will have another opportunity to voice its concerns or support during a meeting scheduled later this month by the Stillwater Protective Association.
BC Call for Power Loses 63% of Awarded Projects
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