While listening to the radio, I heard a discussion about the construction of the proposed Site C Dam. This dam, if constructed, would be the third in a series of dams on the Peace River (along with the Bennett and Peace Canyon Dams). Although the new dam would provide BC with a large amount of new energy to use (at a cost of $8 billion), there are some who are opposed to its construction due to effects on the local environment.
Obviously, when a dam is built, a reservoir is created. In the case of the Site C Dam, this reservoir would be created by flooding approximately 5000 hectares of land in the vicinity of the dam. This has been the source of some controversy for people who live on that land; some had already been forced to relocate after the flooding caused by the construction of the Bennett Dam in the 1960s.
On the other hand, this dam would be the source of a large amount of new energy. The Bennett and Peace Canyon Dams combined generate about 16 billion kilowatt-hours of energy per year, while Site C Dam would add another 5 billion kilowatt-hours annually to that total. Considering that the average house in BC uses about 10,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year, the new dam would provide enough energy to power half a million homes in the province (if one assumes that all of the energy generated would be used for that purpose).
Marc Waller
Prince George
