Opinion: B.C.’s new electricity plan is at odds with its economic ambition

By Mark Zacharias & Dan Woynillowicz – Business in Vancouver

Premier David Eby wants B.C. to be a clean energy superpower. Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions Adrian Dix wants the province to be more like Norway, exporting more conventional energy while using more clean electricity at home. Both point to clean electricity as the backbone of faster economic growth, as envisioned in the province’s “Look West” economic strategy.

So it was downright baffling to see the province and BC Hydro roll out Powering Growth, Fueling Opportunity—billed as “a comprehensive plan to power growth, strengthen communities and support long-term economic development”—that only plans for 50 per cent growth in the province’s electricity system by 2050.