Energy Strategies - British Columbia

Ministry of Energy

Mines and Petroleum Resources


Minister

The Honourable Blair Lekstrom


Documents


BC Overview

The BC Energy Plan was released by British Columbia’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources on April 9, 2009. Following the province’s 2002 Energy for Our Future: A Plan for BC, the report includes contextual information on BC’s existing resources and energy use, and provides targets for future resource and energy use. Broken into four primary areas — Energy Conservation and Efficiency, Electricity, Alternative Energy, and Oil and Gas — the plan outlines 55 policy actions and provides several specific timeline targets (such as BC’s energy self-sufficiency by 2016). The subsequent Report on Progress, the first of several planned documents of this kind, provides a list of policy actions either completed, underway or ongoing.

British Columbia’s energy plan emphasizes the continued use of hydroelectric resources and specifically rules out nuclear power. References to First Nations consultations appear throughout, and government-specific programs highlighting energy efficiency include a hybrid-only fleet and improved standards for all provincially funded buildings. The BC Bioenergy Strategy accompanies the BC Energy Plan as a companion document, specifically highlighting measures including an increased emphasis on wood pellet fuel as a means of combating mountain pine beetle infestation.

In April 2010, concurrent with the release of its Green Energy Advisory Task Force Report (3.7 MB PDF), the Government of British Columbia passed its Clean Energy Act, which includes 16 objectives designed to ensure that BC becomes a “clean energy powerhouse.” These objectives fall under three broad categories: “ensuring electricity self-sufficiency at low rates”; “new investments in clean, renewable power and energy security”; and “harnessing BC’s clean-power potential to create jobs in every region.” Significantly, the act consolidates BC Hydro with the British Columbia Transmission Corporation (BCTC).


Plan Objectives

The BC Energy Plan includes four “objectives” that guide the province’s actions on energy. These objectives, in turn, correspond to common themes found throughout Canada’s other provincial and territorial energy strategies.

  • Environmental Leadership
  • A Strong Commitment to Energy Conservation and Efficiency
  • Energy Security
  • Investing in Innovation

Major Energy Players


Timeline

2010
  • Five per cent average renewable fuel standard for diesel
  • New energy efficiency standards will be determined and implemented
  • The government of BC will be carbon neutral
  • Develop a harmonized regulatory framework for hydrogen
2011
  • Reduce flaring at oil and gas producing wells and production facilities by 50 per cent
  • End of tax breaks for hybrid vehicles
2012
  • BC Hydro will replace 1.7 million hydro meters in homes and businesses with smart meters
2014
  • Replace the Burrard Thermal plant (may retain "for capacity purposes")
2016
  • Eliminate all routine flaring at oil and gas producing wells and production facilities
  • Energy self-sufficent
  • Zero net GHG emissions in existing thermal plants
2020
  • Acquire 50 per cent of BC Hydro’s incremental resource needs through conservation
  • B.C. Biofuel production to meet 50 per cent or more of the province’s renewable fuel requirements
  • Develop at least 10 community energy projects that convert local biomass into energy
2026
  • Will acquire 3,000 GWH of supply beyond "firm" requirements