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LETTER: Clearing up the lies

Editor:

Re: The big lie about B.C.’s power production (March 2 issue of the Grand Forks Gazette)

Roy Ronaghan’s column of March 2 makes numerous claims about renewable energy production in B.C. that are inaccurate, misinformed or plain untrue.

To begin with, Mr. Ronaghan claims small-scale renewable energy projects under BC Hydro’s Standing Offer Program (SOP) are somehow not subject to environmental scrutiny or regulations. This is simply not true. The review process for small-scale projects is different from that of large projects but the same rules, regulations and environmental standards all apply.

Mr. Ronaghan also claims that electricity is being purchased from renewable energy producers “at inflated rates.”  What is he basing this claim on?

Is he comparing the cost of electricity from newly built renewable energy projects to the cost of electricity from aging BC Hydro mega dams that were built and paid for decades ago?  Apparently so.

For a fair and honest cost comparison, Mr. Ronaghan needs to compare the cost of electricity from newly built independent projects to the cost of electricity from newly built BC Hydro projects, such as the proposed Site C dam, or to any of BC Hydro’s soon-to-be-overhauled or already overhauled generating facilities.

Mr. Ronaghan is certainly free to believe whatever crazy conspiracy theories and inaccurate information he wants. Fortunately for the people of B.C., those who know the reality of our energy situation are taking steps to ensure that future generations in this province will be able to enjoy the same legacy of clean, renewable electricity we’ve enjoyed.

Space does not allow me to address all of the inaccuracies and misinformation in Mr. Ronaghan’s column, and nor do we expect to change his mind about anything with what we have to say.  But we do hope others will dig deeper, ask questions and raise their level of energy literacy.

As before, we invite readers of the Grand Forks Gazette to visit our B.C. Citizens for Green Energy website www.greenenergybc.ca  and our BCCGE Livewire blog for more information about this vitally important subject.

David Field, B.C. Citizens for Green Energy