BC Hydro 2005 Integrated Electricity Plan (IEP) & BCTC s Capital Plan Prince George First Nations Meeting Final Meeting Notes

Transcription

1 Meeting Date and Location October 19, 2005 Coast Inn of the North 770 Brunswick St., Prince George, B.C. Attendees Name Jason Majore Priscilla Crouse Reg Ogen Mansell Griffin Interest/Organization Yekooche First Nation Lake Babine First Nation Wet suwet en First Nation Nisga a Lisms Gov t, First Nations PIEPC member BC Hydro Representatives Name Organization Responsibility Claire Marshall BC Hydro, Aboriginal Relations Host/Presenter Coordinator Randy Reimann BC Hydro, IEP Project Manager Presenter Cheryl Brooks Independent Consultant Facilitator/ Note Taker Jane Newlands BC Transmission Corporation Presenter Claire Marshall provided an overview of the electricity sector and reported back on what was heard during the previous sessions: Discussion Highlights Revenue sharing/benefits sharing important for any new projects. First Nations want protocol agreements with BC Hydro and suggest that they should go so far as to deal with how accommodation of interests might be dealt with. The participants were concerned about cost, but it was a lesser concern than other issues. A participant questioned whether biomass plants are actually green. When a biomass plant replaces a beehive burner it is considered green, but in reality they still emit particles into the air. Characterizing biomass as green has been an issue of debate amongst committee members. A participant asked about BC Hydro s emergency plans and asked specifically what would happen if terrorists or major natural disasters hit facilities. BC Hydro s current approach is on having good security measures and Meeting held on October 19, 2005 at the Coast Inn of the North in Prince George Page 1 of 6

2 protection as their first approach. There is not enough extra power to have in place if a major problem happened right now and it would be a case of major cutbacks in service to direct to the highest needs. From a transmission perspective, BCTC is very diligent in system security and does a significant amount of emergency and contingency planning. The system is built to have some redundancy and hopefully to be able to re-route via another way if one major route were down. In addition, BCTC regularly conducts emergency response exercises to test our ability to respond in a wide variety of emergency events (e.g. earthquakes). At the Provincial committee, it was discussed that there is a need to diversify the generation system so we don t have to rely so heavily on key hydro facilities. Not just for terrorism, but in low water years. So what happens to all of the feedback that you ve heard? Much of the feedback and suggestions that are heard are brought forward to senior management and many of the recommendations are acted upon. In terms of resolving grievances, BC Hydro is in negotiations with some First Nations that have been significantly impacted by its facilities. BC Hydro is also interested in moving forward on developing protocol agreements with First Nations as a means to improve relationships and to work out how to consult on projects. If approval is received to move forward on protocol agreements then there will be questions to be answered like how do we set priorities for developing agreements? Is it by prioritizing those First Nations who are most impacted by BC Hydro facilities? BC Hydro is also considering having an ongoing First Nations advisory structure for the company. Out of the IEP process today, our emphasis has been coming out to understand what the impacts are and to determine how First Nations interests get addressed. For example, we talked about capacity building in the forum of a major energy conference, as a means to expand First Nations capability in energy planning and decision-making. From a BCTC perspective, the information is shared with senior management and our planners. We have recently initiated a couple of new programs in response to some of the concerns we heard last year, which I will be talking more about this afternoon. So how close are these companies on impact benefit agreements? We have done some agreements to address past projects, we are now looking at potential future agreements; we are working with the province on this issue now. Meeting held on October 19, 2005 at the Coast Inn of the North in Prince George Page 2 of 6

3 Randy Reimann provided an overview of the 2005 IEP and the described the four strategies that BC Hydro is seeking input on. A BC Hydro representative made the following comments: On a go forward basis, a large part of new power supply will come from private production. The IEP is iterative; every two years we will investigate available resources and possible new technologies. At the same time we are refining the plan every two years and we will be implementing some of the actions from the previous IEP. Load growth is growing somewhere between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent per year. At present we are experiencing roughly a 4 per cent load growth over the past two years it is an ongoing challenge to get the forecasts correct. Last year the BCUC directed BC Hydro to be more vigorous in getting a handle on the types of resources that can be used to generate power and to get independent cost estimates for those resources. Participants had the following questions and comments: Besides population and inflation, what do you base the forecast on? There is a log of mining activity going on right now the re-opening of the Mount Polley mine, Kemanis Mine and more than 14 coal mine applications in the Treaty 8 area alone. How will this affect forecasting? Economic activity is the other key factor -right now metal mines and mining activity are a very strong and driving growth. Has there been consideration of the effects of what the mountain pine beetle epidemic will have on potential resources? For example, if there is a lot of cutting and people who now rely on wood for heating are shorted, will there be higher demand for electricity? Will the deforestation reduce water available in small streams? Not really, but that is a good point to explore. This process is very interesting, a lot of different views about where power should come from and how much it should cost. On Burrard why would you plan to keep something around that you already agree is a dirty source of power? Mansell Griffin made the following comment: Maybe grudgingly keep it for the purpose of capacity and then retire it in 2014 and replace it with a real green source. On the issue of Site C, someone from the Provincial Committee said that it wasn t fair for First Nations to hold the rest of the province ransom for resolution of past grievances before they would agree to Site C. There were some pretty differing ideas from the committee members. Meeting held on October 19, 2005 at the Coast Inn of the North in Prince George Page 3 of 6

4 Mansell Griffin: The West Moberly Band made a presentation to the provincial committee about the impacts of Williston on their lives. The loss of food source e.g., green moose meat from contamination and high mercury levels in the fish. They can no longer eat fish from the reservoir. As a First Nation, I can t imagine not being able to fish. Mansell Griffin on the PIEPC discussions: Some people had concerns that the green portfolio is not really green as it uses biomass and doesn t really factor in cumulative impacts of things like large hydro or broad eco system impacts of diverse portfolios. Also questions of whether the costs are accurate if they don t include the settlement of past grievances with First Nations over past damages to way of life etc. The cumulative impacts of not just hydro, but of all of the developments in conjunction, need to be considered because in combination they create many impacts on traditional First Nations uses and practices. Has there been any consideration of using Kenney dam? I m not clear at this point if there is even a role for BC Hydro in developing large hydro projects in the future. The BC Energy plan really directs BC Hydro to put its emphasis on finding new resources from other private power producers. All of the participants supported the concept of Power Smart but they stated that there is a need to customize it for First Nations and to work with building standards on reserves. It was also suggested that more capital funding sources be sought for use in building construction so that Power Smart benefits can be realized on reserves. What is the energy source used mostly in remote communities? Diesel generation is the primary source. But we are beginning to explore the potential for small hydro and some wind projects. Some of the remote communities have undergone community energy plans and BC Hydro will be encouraging these types of plans for remote communities. With Community Energy Plans (CEPs), how long does it take from when you first start to when you actually have power? It depends on the approach you take; it ranges from a community energy scan to a full scale community energy plan. What is the appetite for letting communities become their own utility? So they can manage accounts for people with poverty issues and not be disconnected and charged for reconnections. Also, we could control issues like vegetation management and not use herbicides etc. One big question on distribution these days is cost and economies of scale. Having a community become its own utility might not necessarily be a lucrative venture. Meeting held on October 19, 2005 at the Coast Inn of the North in Prince George Page 4 of 6

5 Jane Newlands from BC Transmission Corporation provided a presentation on the Capital Plan. The following are questions and comments from participants: Our concern is black-outs and power outages, how can we make those lines more reliable and what about back up systems? We need faster repair of lines. Disconnection of power is very costly for people who are living on $500 a month and often it causes loss of food in freezers which is another financial impact on already impoverished people. Claire will be telling you about BC Hydro s new remote community electrification program later in the meeting. You are invited to a meeting on this topic on November 23 rd. The Band has its own silva culture company and we would like to be able to participate in vegetation management work for BC Hydro and BCTC. What about revenue sharing is it coming up soon? This is not yet known, BC Hydro needs the province to direct them to do this and to determine where the money would be taken from (i.e., from the ratepayers or from the dividends that go to the province). Could revenue sharing take the form of possibly subsidizing the purchase of Power Smart appliances which would reduce the costs? Benefit sharing could take a number of forms. I m not sure about this suggestion. Why don t we do more underground distribution of transmission lines? The primary reason is cost, which is significantly higher. In addition, while it may have fewer outages, when it does happen, it takes more time because first, you have to dig it up and then you have to find the actual source of the problem. How is three-phase power funded? BC Hydro has a test that determines who is eligible or who pays for an upgrade. How available is the capital plan? All are on the website but we will mail you a hard copy. What do the first transmission studies cover? At the initial phase, a technical study would be completed to determine the potential costs of connecting to the system and whether any system upgrades were required. If an upgrade was required, it would be determined what the options were. If new facilities were needed, then project studies would be initiated on topics such as route/site selection, feasibility, impacts etc. Has there been discussion with the Assembly of First Nations or the First Nations Summit on these things? I find this provincial scope too large from my community perspective. We have met with Union BC of Indian Chiefs and the Assembly of First Nations, and we have informed the First Nations Summit of what we are doing. They seemed to have supported us talking to people regionally as well. Meeting held on October 19, 2005 at the Coast Inn of the North in Prince George Page 5 of 6

6 BC Hydro s procurement/contractor policy: BC Hydro has recently made several adjustments based on our experience with the WUP follow up program. When we look at developing a new program, we need to be looking at what the barriers are, what skills are required. For example, the need for more project management skills and relaxed bonding requirements were two issues that were identified. On the contracting opportunity that BC Transmission is proposing, the best way to get inventories of what each Band can offer on upcoming projects is to deal directly with the Bands to find out what they have and to hold workshops or meetings to inform people what opportunities are available. Meeting held on October 19, 2005 at the Coast Inn of the North in Prince George Page 6 of 6