B.C. unplugs plans for new power line in north of province
WENDY STUECK
November 28, 2007
theglobeandmail.com
VANCOUVER -- A recently approved electricity transmission line heralded as a boon for economic development in northern British Columbia is on hold, provincial Energy Minister Richard Neufeld said yesterday.
"If there are some other consortiums that come forward with money and guarantees they will take the electricity, and all of those kind of things, then of course, we'll sit down and talk with them," Mr. Neufeld said.
"But in the meantime, I think it's the prudent decision by government to say it's on hold."
The province's decision to review the $400-million Northwest Transmission Line comes shortly after mining companies Teck Cominco and NovaGold shelved their Galore Creek project as costs ballooned from $2-billion (U.S.) to close to $5-billion.
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Galore Creek was to have been the main consumer of the power coming over the transmission line and its developers had also agreed to put up $158-million toward building the line.
Without a major industrial customer in place, the proposed high-capacity line no longer makes economic sense, Mr. Neufeld said.
The indefinite shelving of the power line is a blow to British Columbia's resurgent mining sector and throws a wrench into the province's plans to reduce several communities' dependence on diesel power - a goal that ties in to the government's plans to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
The line was given a green light by the province on Oct. 1 and had been scheduled for completion by 2011.
The proposed line would have run 335 kilometres from Terrace to Meziadin Junction and north to Bob Quinn Lake, providing access to the provincial grid for industrial customers such as Galore Creek and potentially allowing several small communities in the region to hook into the provincial system.
When the province announced plans to go ahead with the line, Premier Gordon Campbell said it "will not only stimulate job creation, but also reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by improving access to renewable resources and decreasing reliance on diesel-electric power generation for industry and communities."
The proposed 287-kilovolt line is a high-capacity line that can be justified only by having a major industrial customer at the other end, Mr. Neufeld said.
"The beauty of building the line was that we could have energized those communities off that line. It would have been very expensive. But in light of greenhouse-gas reductions and getting people on the grid, we thought it would be prudent to do that," Mr. Neufeld said.
The province will continue to look for ways to reduce diesel fuel use, he said.
In the meantime, some early-stage exploration and development projects are likely to be shelved, said Len Boggio, senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers mining group in B.C.
"A number of projects rely on the provision of power in order to make them economically feasible," Mr. Boggio said. "And without the power line, they just simply won't be."
NovaGold spokesman Doug Brown said the company expected to talk with the province about the transmission line as the company winds down Galore Creek.
There are currently 400 employees and contractors involved with construction at the project, which has created strong demand for workers, supplies and services such as catering and helicopter transportation.
NovaGold last year struck a participation agreement with the Tahltan Central Council, which represents the Iskut and Tahltan bands. The agreement's provisions included payments of at least $1-million a year to a Tahltan Heritage Fund during mine operations. |
