Site C

The BC Utility Commission (BCUC) released for comment what it considers to be an alternative to Site C that could meet future electricity requirements. Its alternative basically consists of a lot of wind projects, utility scale batteries and conservation measures. Based on a number of assumptions, it estimated the present value net costs that this alternative would entail (with all expenditures and export revenues discounted back to an equivalent 2018 value taking the time value of money into account). The BCUC release relates to the fourth question in the Site C terms of reference about whether there is an alternative to Site C that could provide the same benefits at equal or lower cost. There is no explicit comparison to Site C in the BCUC release, as it does not provide a comparable Site C 2018 present value cost net of export revenues. However, BCUC’s estimates would appear to suggest that contrary to BC Hydro’s calculation that an alternative portfolio of projects would be so