ThisVille
The following is the 'wave away' from Rob Shaw's bizarre deflector spike spin piece on how Horgan has been acting just like Clark, re: Hydro in yesterday's VSun:
...As veteran energy analyst David Austin noted at a recent B.C. Utilities Commission hearing, you could fire all of Hydro’s staff, cancel all its private power contracts, and the corporation would still have to keep raising rates because its true cost pressures lie in paying for all its deferral accounts, building and upgrade projects...
'Veteran energy analyst'?
Sure thing.
But, then again...
There is also the following from the good Mr. Austin's bio page at Clark Wilson LLP under the heading 'Creation of the Independent Power Industry in BC':
...Was heavily involved in the creation of the independent power industry from the policy, business and legal apects in BC and continues to represent it in regulatory proceedings...
Now.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but...
Was not the BCUC hearing that Mr. Shaw refers to some kind of 'regulatory proceeding'?
****
Meanwhile, from Norm Farrell's latest, another one of those really, really big things that fine local proMedia folks like Mr. Shaw don't bother to tell their readers:
In a follow-up post on his Twittmachine feed Norm further notes that we gave IPP's almost $10 billion between 2005 and 2017 and almost $4 billion in the last three years alone.
Imagine that.
______
Tip O' The Toque to reader Hugh for the heads-up in a comment over at Norm's place.
.
16 comments:
Rob Shaw, just keeping a lack of the full facts going, so the public will blame the NDP because all of those things the B.C. Lieberals did will in the end be considered N.D.P. doings.
This is the MSM still shrilling for the B.C. Lieberals. You only have to watch CTV news and listen to Tamara Taggart announcing promised the NDP hasn't kept/ and airing Wilkinson attacking the NDP about things the B.C. Lieberals are responsible for, a part of which he was. Yes, his line of another promise the NDP didn't keep.
The NDP need to EXPLAIN about B.C. Hydro to all taxpayers and consumers exactly what has gone on. Lay it at the feet of those who are responsible.
Perhaps Mr. Eby could conduct an investigation into the IPP mess. Perhaps there are some legal issues which need to be addressed. Like how a billionaire doesn't have to pay his electricity bill on his mine when the rest of us have to pay our electricity bills each and every month or we get cut off. Of course that billionaire gave about $500K to Christy over various time, not that would have made her so open to "changes".
All those deals the B.C. Liebrals made with their "financial supporters" need to be looked at closely. In my opinion, some of them look like pay offs to get contracts. Its time for a court to decide.
Rob Shaw's long-term plan must be to join a restored BC Liberal government at a senior level where taxpayers instead of Postmedia will pay him to spin the party's stories.
This is one of his more egregious mistruths:
"...the new premier [Christy Clark] riding in to find “operational savings” in the ballpark of $500 million to $1 billion between both Crowns.
"Reining in the gold-plated standard at both Crowns was long overdue..."
The problem with these statements is that Clark did nothing of the kind. What BC Hydro did do under her rule was pretend that money spent on expenses were asset acquisitions. Cost deferrals soared. Recording of non-existent revenue (sales they hoped to make but didn’t) continued and the assets employed to sell the same quantity of electricity rose from $20 billion in 2011 to $32 billion in 2017.
She rewarded an unqualified Liberal apparatchik with the senior job at BC Hydro and appointed other Liberals to the board. Meanwhile, BC Hydro's rewards to Liberal friends in the private power business soared.
Nothing was reigned in at BC Hydro. Under Clark, destruction of the once very successful and profitable crown corporation accelerated.
The payouts are going exactly as designed by Campbell under the guise of the "Clean Energy Act". A mis-named document that should have been called the "Clean Out BCHydro Act", as that is how it was set up and has worked as such.
The staggering amount, over $56 billion, that BC Hydro owes for power from IPPs in long term contracts is shown here on P. 5:
http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/pa/13_14/Contractual_Obligations.pdf
Those purchases of expensive, intermittent IPP power are made, regardless of whether the power is needed by BC Hydro or not.
How much is $56 billion?
Picture a pile of money containing $1 million.
Then picture 56 Thousand of those piles.
That's not going to affect hydro rates?
Sure thing.
Clark Wilson LLP web page includes this endorsement of Mr. Austin.
“As one prominent member of the media once put it: ‘David is responsible for the longest running energy tutorial in BC history.’”
The prominent member is anonymous, but I believe we’ve discovered the name of one of Austin's students.
Hugh, that might be only 55,995 piles if a few of them have found their way under the MMM by one means or another ...mainstream media mattress. Pure whimsical conjecture on my part as no one knows who the investors are. I'm just searching for any reasons IPP's are not being discussed in any light (no pun intended) whenever I listen to "interviews" about BC Hydro. One reason may be that Norm's figures are complete fabrications and they really are just local mom and pop waterwheels turning in the river current (no pun intended) producing really green electricity at really low cost.
I can't find any evidence that supports David Austin's claim that he won a clean energy award. There are 8 "David" mentioned at their site but none of them is David Austin.
NIL https://www.cleanenergybc.org/?s=David+Austin
NIL for 2017 https://www.cleanenergybc.org/news/2017-clean-energy-bc-award-winners
NIL for 2016 http://www.knightpiesold.com/en/news/articles/sam-mottram-receives-2016-lifetime-achievement-award-from-clean-energy-bc/
NIL http://cleanenergycanada.org/work/new-energy-vision/endorsers-new-energy-vision-canada/
As to BC Hydro's idea of what Clean Energy is .... at the BC Legislative Library ... Search criteria: Clean Energy BC index with 17 results. Index means there are multiple results within, such as Alberta's input on Site C
http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs2013_2/529727/index.htm
Ah yes the forbidden Burrard Thrermal?
March 6. Times Colonist - Les Leyne.
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/columnists/les-leyne-ndp-s-hydro-rate-freeze-thaws-in-a-hurry-1.23192381
Can't recall an opinion piece like this from any of the usual suspects when the previous proprietors were running Hydro into the ground.
A couple of notable quotes amongst others from the piece that struck me of sheer hypocrisy.
"Now the NDP knows why the B.C. Liberals ignored the BCUC whenever possible."
There’s no question the previous government sailed the utility very close to the financial limits, if not past them."
"
"
As usual Rob Shaw's opinion pieces seek to deflect our attention from the mess created by the Liberals. He blames the NDP for requiring BC Hydro to pay the province 85 percent of its net income. Others would say why shouldn't British Columbians share the profits (which BC Hydro was making from sales to California). This is exactly what corporations do-share profits by sharing profits-not require BC Hydro to borrow money to pay a dividend.. The Liberals, however, continued to bleed BC Hydro when it wasn't making money.
And, he forgot to pin the blame on Gordon Campbell who forbade BC Hydro from building any generating plants, signed a sweetheart deal with IPP at exorbitant prices. At the same time, BC hydro was saddled with water rental rates (used to generate power) at rates up to 5 times what IPP's were being charged.
"ICBC is a dumpster fire"
"There's a mess at BC Hydro"
What's next?
After rising for 100 years, electricity demand is flat. Utilities are freaking out.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is the latest to be caught short.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/2/27/17052488/electricity-demand-utilities?utm_campaign=drvox&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
"[U]tilities find themselves constantly surprised, caught flat-footed again and again by a trend they desperately want to believe is temporary. Unless we can collectively reorient utilities to pursue rather than fear current trends in electricity, they are headed for a grim reckoning."
Distributed generation,and geothermal.
surplus bc ferry transfer.. hey that worked ,icbc hey that worked ,bc hydro.. hey tht worked oh we forgot WCB?.
Think tanks are essentially lobbyists pretending not to be.?
Breaking news(?): hydro rates will rise due to BC Hydro's expensive IPP power contracts:
http://vancouversun.com/news/politics/vaughn-palmer-under-ndp-b-c-hydro-backs-off-independent-power-deals
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