Media release - for immediate release
B.C. Citizens for Green Energy
www.greenenergybc.ca
December 30, 2010

2010: A banner year for
green energy in B.C.

“Wind power has finally arrived in B.C. and it’s
a fabulous and long overdue addition to B.C.’s
extraordinary hydroelectric and run-of-river
resources which are second to none.”

— Bruce Sanderson, co-spokesperson,
B.C. Citizens for Green Energy —

Vancouver, B.C. — Despite an uncertain and pessimistic start, 2010 has turned out to be a banner year for green energy development in B.C. and things are looking very positive for 2011 according to B.C. Citizens for Green Energy (BCCGE) co-spokesperson Bruce Sanderson.

Sanderson points to the passage of the long-anticipated Clean Energy Act in the B.C. Legislature last June as perhaps the most significant green energy event of 2010.

The new Act, which built on the work of the Green Energy Advisory Task Force, brought regulatory certainty to the green energy sector, for energy producers and consumers alike, and created a solid policy foundation for exporting renewable green energy from B.C. to places like Alberta and the U.S.

Sanderson says developing B.C.’s immense potential for generating renewable green energy, and realizing the substantial revenue that could be generated for the people of B.C. through an effective export policy, was also the subject of BCCGE’s March 2010 research report entitled, “A Triple Legacy for Future Generations: British Columbia’s Potential as a Renewable Green Energy Powerhouse.”

“Revenues in the range of $4.3 Billion per year could potentially be realized by the people of British Columbia if we fully unlocked the province’s green energy resources,” Sanderson says.  “Potentially that’s enough new revenue to wipe out the province’s debt and eventually even replace the revenue now raised through the HST.”

Sanderson says wind energy also became a solid part of B.C.’s clean energy mix in 2010.  In November, B.C.’s largest wind farm, the Dokie Ridge wind project near Chetwynd, began supplying clean energy to B.C.’s electrical grid joining the Bear Mountain wind park which became operational late in 2009.

“Wind energy projects also accounted for about half of the electricity supply contracts awarded by BC Hydro to clean energy producers this past spring,” Sanderson says. “Wind power has finally arrived in B.C. and it’s a fabulous and long overdue addition to B.C.’s extraordinary hydroelectric and run-of-river resources which are second to none.”

2010 also saw a high level delegation of California legislators and environmentalists visiting B.C. on a fact-finding mission.  Notably, the California delegation toured the Ashlu run-of-river facility near Squamish, and afterwards the head of the delegation (Patrick Mason, president of the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy) said how amazed the group was by the project’s small footprint and how impressed the group was by B.C.’s regulations relating to run-of-river projects.

Mason went on to say that he would be telling the environmental groups on his board back in California that they really should take a look at B.C.’s run-of-river projects and the stringent environmental regulations governing them before they make up their minds.

Overall, Sanderson says, it’s been an interesting year, and as the new year unfolds BCCGE will be following green energy issues very closely: “Things are definitely looking very positive and the stage is set for 2011 to be a great year for green energy in B.C. and for building a legacy of clean, renewable electricity for future generations.”

PDF Copies of BCCGE’s March 2010 research report, “A Triple Legacy for Future Generations: British Columbia’s Potential as a Renewable Green Energy Powerhouse,” are available on the BCCGE website at www.greenenergybc.ca.  Links to the BCCGE report can also be found on the BCCGE Livewire blog.

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For more information contact Bruce Sanderson
Co-spokesperson, B.C. Citizens for Green Energy
604-637-2150
e-mail us at info@greenenergybc.ca ybc.ca


B.C. Citizens for Green Energy is an advocacy group representing a cross-section of British Columbians who encourage a legacy of clean, renewable electricity for future generations.
www.greenenergybc.ca