As we are in the last few meters of the finish line permit me put the position of Save Our Rivers Society.
You the taxpayer, through your own company BC Hydro, are financing (to date $30 BILLION) private power producers to ruin our rivers to create energy we don’t need1 to export that power to the US with all the profits going to the shareholders. For this huge outlay BC Hydro doesn’t get even a scrap of paper as security!
In the bargain, the annual dividend of hundreds of millions of dollars, up to a Billion, will not be going to the provincial treasury for hospitals, schools etc but into the hands of companies like General Electric and their largest shareholder, Warren Buffett.
As anyone can see, BC Hydro, shorn of its transmission lines, unable by government edict to produce any new power, saddled with a $3O BILLION dollar debt to private power companies (which rises with each new private power agreement), still carrying their capital debt of $7 BILLION, is technically bankrupt now which will become official if, God forbid, Campbell is re-elected.
If Campbell is elected, the Bute Inlet project, far bigger in scope than Site “C” (Site “C” could produce more power but that’s because they can produce all year while Bute Inlet can only produce for a few months) will be approved meaning that no government will be able to turn down smaller projects. We will then be into the US market big time and at the tender mercies of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
In closing, we at SORS say that this and the fish farm issue are by far the biggest issues in this election because a continuation of the Campbell policy will wreak permanent damage to our salmon, our precious rivers and will break BC Hydro and demolish our public power system.
My thanks to you all for bearing with us and may I take this moment to ask you to take serious account of the above when voting.
Our website is www.saveourrivers.ca.
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1This is because they can only produce electricity in the spring and early summer runoff when BC Hydro’s reservoirs are full.
Rafe,
Regarding the building of dams, I was wondering if the effects of methane production from all the dead vegetation from flooding had been addressed. Apparently, the methane produced by dams makes Hydro power as dangerous as other means of energy production. I heard this mentioned during the James Bay project but haven’t heard anything recently.
Thanks for your dedication,
Ian Hart