Government officials are typically pleased when they cut the ribbon on a major capital project, but Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier was practically beaming.
"I was the mayor of Dawson Creek when we first started talking about this," he said on Wednesday as he and an assembly of colleagues announced the official opening of the The Dawson Creek/Chetwynd Area Transmission (DCAT) Project - a power transmission system that allows reliable electricity to flow to areas previously without connection in that area. Bernier said his heart would sink as company after company would come into his office and talk about wanting to do business - most of it related to natural gas - but him knowing they just couldn't operate because of the lack of power supply.
Running a 72 kilometre line between two existing BC Hydro substations now means that economically crushing old problem is solved.
Premier Christy Clark was on hand to share in the announcement. She said the DCAT "is going to mean new jobs in the northeast where right now, people are looking really hard for work."
She added, though, that "it helps us reach our climate change goals, and helps the economy at the same time."
That's more impact than most short-distance power lines usually get credit for. The current mayor of Dawson Creek, Dale Bumstead, was in Prince George for the announcement at the BC Natural Resources Forum. It was natural to hear him call the DCAT "transformational" and "core infrastructure to build quality of life" in the region, but how is it that this little project became a greenhouse gas game-changer?
That was explained by Richard Dunn, a vice-president with Encana Corporation, who explained that this power line meant millions and millions of dollars in natural gas development his company and others like it could now do, and that natural gas would be used around the world instead of dirtier fuel sources like coal.
The province's Minister of Energy and Mines, Bill Bennett, added that this was a global benefit since in B.C. "Our power supply is already 97 per cent clean, and you can count the national and subnational jurisdictions on the fingers of maybe two hands, worldwide, that can say the same. We don't have coal plants, we don't have nuclear, we have a little bit of gas generation - our electricity is already clean."
BC Hydro president and CEO Jessica McDonald said it this project, although small in stature, was mighty in its meaning for the provincial power grid, and was not a simple construction effort.
"Like so many of our linear projects, it was a tough one to build," she said. "British Columbia always presents its challenges and I want to take a moment to recognize the work by BC Hydro employees and also our contractors in completing this line. It had to navigate some pretty tough river crossings, with constant monitoring to protect the local environment. There was a lot of patience shown by land owners who needed to use the land, and we appreciated their co-operation. Another challenge during construction was work done in subzero temperatures."
The switch was flipped in November to test the system, it is now fully operational and 11,000 customers have already tapped into its energy.
