Energy Strategies - British Columbia
Ministry of Energy
Minister
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
- BC Climate Action Secretariat
- BC Hydro
- BC Sustainable Energy Association
- Bullfrog Power
- Energy Services BC
- FortisBC
- Universal Energy Corporation
Timeline
| 2010 |
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| 2011 |
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| 2012 |
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| 2014 |
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| 2016 |
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| 2020 |
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| 2026 |
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