Sponsorship snub disconnects B.C. from real world

[Locutus]

'You see what I'm working with here?" It's a quote from the 2010 movie Due Date, but it might as well be mouthed by B.C. Premier Christy Clark, who governs a province that chooses to disconnect itself from the real world.

Running British Columbia must be like trying to round up a bunch of dope-smoking kittens. The latest example is the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, which this year raised $7.5 million in Alberta, $19.1 million in Ontario, $6.3 million in Quebec and $10.4 million in B.C.

You'd think that would be a good thing. But in B.C., Enbridge was asked to remove its name from signage along the route, writes Calgary Herald columnist Deborah Yedlin, presumably because of the company's audacious attempt to generate economic activity by building a pipeline to the West Coast.


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Sponsorship snub disconnects B.C. from real world


What a place.

 

[petros]

Turn the pipe right of way into a Trans BC Mountain Bike Trail lined with pot plants, groomed by Katimavik slave labour and funded by a tax on indoor pot nutrients and all will be good.

 

[karrie]

Sheesh. What's it like to live life in black and white like that? Industry is evil and has to hang their heads in shame as they raise millions for cancer research? How the hell does that work?

 

[petros]

How the hell does that work?

It's BC, they don't work.

 

[Zipperfish]

It's BC, they don't work.

Sure we do. We build dams, and buy power at 10 cents all night long while our reservoirs are filling up, and then sell it back to Alberta at peak daytime rates. Make the water do the work for you!

That said, as much as I enjoy ticking off Alberta ("We brag like Tonronto and complain like Quebec!"), I don't agree with this at all. The BC Cancer Foundation, I have long suspected, is run by people more concerned with their business model than a cure for cancer. That's why their website brags that they "raise more money for cancer research than any other charity." Why on earth would that matter, unless you were operating on a competitive basis.

 

[petros]

Really? Dams that were built before you were born are feeding Alberta electricity? That's a hot one.

 

[Zipperfish]

Really? Dams that were built before you were born are feeding Alberta electricity? That's a hot one.

Yup. Can't turn off a coal fired power plant. Electricity is an instantaneous market. Gotta sell it now! So BC buys at night when power rates are low. And we sell it back to Alberta to ease the peak load, at a higher price.

 

[petros]

Really? It's Alberta and not the US? How long has this been going on?

 

[Zipperfish]

Really? It's Alberta and not the US? How long has this been going on?

I think they do it to the US too, I think--and they're none too happy about it. It's one of the reasons why (IMHO) hydro power is superior. You can turn off a dam, but not a coal or gas plant. Or nuclear I'm guessing.

 

[karrie]

I think they do it to the US too, I think--and they're none too happy about it. It's one of the reasons why (IMHO) hydro power is superior. You can turn off a dam, but not a coal or gas plant. Or nuclear I'm guessing.

No wonder we only get about 7% of our electricity from hydro. Drive the prices up, people shop elsewhere.

 

[petros]

I think they do it to the US too, I think--and they're none too happy about it. It's one of the reasons why (IMHO) hydro power is superior. You can turn off a dam, but not a coal or gas plant. Or nuclear I'm guessing.

Terrible guessing. US is BC Hydro's number 1 customer and they don't pay a night/day floating rate. AB and even SK have hydro too and sell to guess who? USA. That is why in SK our 3 biggest coal/gas power stations are sitting on the border.

 

[Zipperfish]

Terrible guessing. US is BC Hydro's number 1 customer and they don't pay a night/day floating rate. AB and even SK have hydro too and sell to guess who? USA

But we _do_ sell to Alberta, don't we? This is based on what I was told 10-15 years ago by a buddy of mine that worked at Powerex (the part of Hydro that buys and sells electricity). So you're telling me that there is no peak rate? Maybe that's changed, I don't know.

 

[petros]

No. There is a shiny new "peak" line between BC and AB where AB sells power to BC when short and BC to AB when short. You're buddy was feeding you a whole whack of Bravo Sierra.

 

[karrie]

But we _do_ sell to Alberta, don't we? This is based on what I was told 10-15 years ago by a buddy of mine that worked at Powerex (the part of Hydro that buys and sells electricity). So you're telling me that there is no peak rate? Maybe that's changed, I don't know.

Google is your friend. Yes, you sell to Alberta. And yes, you guys get it dirt cheap, we buy it pricey.

 

[petros]

http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/statisticsbysubject/ExportsImports/Data/ElectricityTrade.aspx

Google is your friend. Yes, you sell to Alberta. And yes, you guys get it dirt cheap, we buy it pricey.

In SK, (thanks to global warming screwballs) we pay double for our own electricity of what they pay for SK electricity in North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana.

Same goes for BC Hydro and their exports.

 

[Zipperfish]

No. There is a shiny new "peak" line between BC and AB where AB sells power to BC when short and BC to AB when short. You're buddy was feeding you a whole whack of Bravo Sierra.

Here's the wikipedia excerpt from Alberta Energy Policy:

Alberta and neighbouring British Columbia are buyers and sellers of each
other’s power. Albertans buy from B.C. during peak hours. B.C. buys from Alberta
during off-peak periods (weekends, evenings, or statutory holidays when demand
in Alberta diminishes). This arrangement confers benefits on both provinces.[3]


The power-exchanging relationship between the two provinces is based on geography.
Alberta has coal and natural gas, while B.C. has big mountains, long
valleys and historically an abundance of water resources. As a result, B.C.
based its system on hydroelectric power while Alberta constructed one
that primarily burns hydrocarbons. Because of these basic realities, over
the years the two provinces have evolved an interdependent relationship.


Alberta’s electrical demand varies substantially throughout the day and
across the seasons. When individuals are fixing supper and using home
appliances, demand for power goes up, as it does during heat waves and cold
snaps. It tapers off during spring and fall. Like other mechanical devices,
generators fail unexpectedly from time to time. If they are wind-powered, their
output is quite variable and difficult to predict.


Whether for reasons of temporary high demand, short supply or both, Alberta
buys electricity from its western neighbour. In 2007, B.C. provided as much as
465 megawatts to Alberta for brief periods. In a sense, B.C. serves as a standby
generator that can provide significant amounts of reliable power on short
notice. By contrast, Alberta frequently sells electricity to British Columbia at
night during periods of surplus capacity. During that period, B.C. recharges its
hydroelectric reservoirs.


Simply put, Alberta buys electricity from B.C. during periods of peak
consumption, on unusually cold or hot days or when a larger-than-normal number
of generators are down for maintenance. British Columbia buys electricity from
Alberta when that province least needs it, during off-peak periods. This
arrangement enables both provinces to make optimal use of their generating and
storage capacity and use assets more efficiently. Also, it keeps power prices
lower in both provinces than they would otherwise be.


This arrangement evolved because of the physical differences between the two
electrical systems. It depends very little on differences in the two market
models.

So, I don't think it was BS.

 

[petros]

If BC wasn't f*cked by contractual obligations to the US markets it's wouldn't need to import 2,821,776MWhrs from the US, which in reality is BCHydro and West Kootenay Power's hydro to begin with.


"The Grid"

On line runs back and forth between AB and BC.

 

[karrie]

Alberta’s power play could raise BC Hydro rates | Mining and Energy | Business in Vancouver

Here's a little article for you zipper on the market relations

 

[petros]

Good article karrie. It's going to get worse for BC as NG powered "peak plants" spring up across the Prairies and the idea of a National Grid comes to completion.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

You people do realise that you're seriously debating, and offering factual articles, on FREAKIN' POWER DISTRIBUTION IN THE WESTERN CANADIAN PROVINCES, I trust?