BC Hydro slows green energy development
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 and is filed under BC Hydro, Industry News.
Tags: BC Hydro, Green Energy
Hydro says demand for electricity is falling as forestry and mining slow
Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun, January 7, 2009
A slowing provincial economy is getting the blame for BC Hydro’s decision to slash by 40 per cent the amount of power it sought in its recent call for green energy.
Tumbling demand for electricity in the forestry sector, an expected decline in sales of consumer goods, and a presumed drop in housing starts over the next two years are all cited by Hydro in a recent filing to the British Columbia Utilities Commission.
Hydro forecasts that those factors, and others including a mining industry slowdown, will dampen overall growth in demand for electricity in B.C. — reflecting a global economic downturn over the next two years.
As a result, it’s cutting the amount of power it proposes to buy from independent power producers in the Clean Call for electricity, which closed Nov. 25, 2008, from 5,000 gigawatt hours per year to 3,000 gigawatt hours per year.
