4 - British Columbia: Winning reform after losing the Peace

Summary

The experience of successful reform of the electric utility in the Canadian province of British Columbia undermines still further the view that federalism is necessarily a key factor in leading to reverse adaptation. The process of reform allows us to explore some of the elements that had to be overcome to bring about change in a utility very much adapted to expansion.

In 1981 the Chairman of the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority reported that the utility was expecting to invest $22.6 billion over the next decade in new generating capacity and other assets in order to meet an ever-increasing demand for electricity. After the Revelstoke hydroelectric project, which was nearing completion, would come a dam on the Peace River by 1987, then a thermal station at Hat Creek and massive hydro developments in the north of the province. BC Hydro was looking forward to a decade of unprecedented activity building power stations.

Yet a decade later construction of the Peace River dam had not even begun, and plans for the other schemes had been shelved indefinitely. Rather than building dams Hydro was actively promoting conservation, and a thousand staff had been cut from its design section. By 1993 BC Hydro was exporting its Power Smart conservation brand name to US utilities, and its incentive programs had made high-efficiency electric motors the norm rather than the exception. This chapter examines these dramatic changes.

BC Hydro is the third largest electrical utility in Canada (after Hydro Quebec and Ontario Hydro). In 1990 it had a total installed generating capacity (predominantly hydro) of 10 466 MW, with annual sales of almost 43 000 GWh.