100% of power from Site C Dam: LNG production

On July 25, 2011 in our blog post titled ‘The real reason for Site C’, we put forward the idea that the Site C Dam wasn’t about supplying power to homes in BC, as Gordon Campbell and BC Hydro had claimed, but was actually being pushed through to support the oil and gas industry in Northern BC.

Earlier last year, Energy Minister Rich Coleman said the Site C Dam will be “clean, green” energy and that he was proud to support the project.

However, the Council of Treaty 8 Chiefs, said in a press release that when combined with forestry, oil and gas and mining projects, the dam would cause irrevocable damage to fish, wildlife and local agriculture.

Clean, renewable power for 100 years

From “The real reason for Site C”, is the following from a BC Hydro press release of 2010:

Site C Dam will be a source of clean and renewable energy for over 100 years, producing enough electricity to power approximately 410,000 homes per year.

“Hydroelectric power helped develop our province and Site C will build on B.C.’s heritage of clean, renewable and affordable, power,” said Premier Gordon Campbell. “Site C will be a publicly owned heritage asset and will ensure that British Columbia has reliable sources of clean electricity, while contributing to our goal of electricity self-sufficiency.”

Site C Dam power will be used for Shell’s LNG production

On Feb 3, 2012 Premier Christie Clark announced the new energy strategy for BC. In a complete reversal of what the public had been told to date about the Site C Dam, Christie Clark said “Site C is essential for liquefied natural gas (LNG) development and Site C and B.C.’s proposed LNG development go hand in hand.”

In an interview with Fort St John’s Moose FM, Clark said that the newly approved licence for Shell to export LNG out of Kitimat to China, will use 100% of the power Site C would create. (PetroChina has major stakes in B.C., partnering with Shell in its global LNG production interests and is part of the consortium hoping to build facilities in Kitimat.)

Last fall, the NEB granted British Columbia’s Kitimat LNG terminal a 20-year export licence that will allow liquefied natural gas to be shipped to Asian markets.