A remote community less than 200 kilometres north of Alberta’s oilsands will soon get a quarter of its annual electricity from solar power.

Three Nations Energy (3NE), a corporation owned by Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation and Fort Chipewyan Metis Association, announced the completion of their 2.2-megawatt solar farm in Fort Chipewyan this week. 

Electricity from the $7.76 million 3NE solar farm, in combination with power from a nearby 600-kilowatt solar farm owned by ATCO and a battery storage system, will reduce the need for more than 800,000 litres of diesel fuel each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2,250 tonnes — roughly the emissions from 486 cars over the course of a year.

Electricity from the solar projects, which together make up the largest remote solar farm in Canada, will begin flowing to the community grid in January.

“Our people have a proud tradition of making our livelihood from the sustainable use of local renewable resources,” Blue Eyes Simpson, vice president of Fort Chipewyan Metis Association and a 3NE director, said in a press release Wednesday.

“Reducing carbon emissions by replacing imported diesel with our locally owned solar farm uses new technology to act on these values in a way that will increase our energy security and self-sufficiency.” Simpson added.

Blue Eyes Simpson, vice president of Fort Chipewyan Metis Association, said the new solar farm will help reduce the community’s long reliance on diesel for electricity. The project will help reduce the community’s diesel consumption by nearly one million litres. Photo: Nick Kendrick / Greenplanet Energy Analytics

Renewables and the oilsands: ‘we can do both’ 

Fort Chipewyan, a remote community located on the northwest shore of Lake Athabasca and just outside of Wood Buffalo National Park, can only be accessed by plane or boat during the summer or by winter road for just a few months each year.

The community of roughly 1,000 people is not connected to Alberta’s main power grid and has relied on diesel that’s trucked in during the winter and stored in tanks to provide electricity throughout the year.

“We are already seeing the impacts of climate change on the Peace Athabasca Delta,” Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam said in the release. Research has long suggested the delta may be drying due to climate change.

But Adam doesn’t think the Nation needs to choose between the oilsands and renewables.

In a statement included in the press release, Adam said his nation may be dependent on the oilsands for jobs and investment revenue, but added “that doesn’t mean forcing us into a false choice between a strong fossil fuel industry and protecting climate and the environment.” 

“We can do both,” he said.

“It all starts with what we do here at home, cleaning up our own emissions like this solar farm will do for electricity in Fort Chip,” Adam added.

Indigenous-led project a ‘model for Canada’s green energy future’

The project was hailed as another example of the importance of Indigenous involvement in the energy sector — both in fossil fuels and renewables.

Mikisew Cree First Nation Chief Peter Powder said in the release that the solar project helps build “the capacity of our own tradespeople, workers and contractors to participate in the emerging green energy sector — just as we now play a major role contributing to the success of the fossil fuel industry of Alberta.”

The importance of Indigenous involvement in resource projects was emphasized by Alberta’s Minister of Indigenous Relations Rick Wilson, who said in a video message: “Indigenous people must have an equity stake in resource projects if there’s going to be a healthy future for our vital resource industries and for communities to prosper.”

“Projects like this one will benefit generations to come,” he said.

Chief Peter Powder of the Mikisew Cree First Nation stands in front of the new solar farm. The project is located in Fort Chipewyan, just 200 kilometres north of Alberta’s oilsands. Photo: Nick Kendrick / Greenplanet Energy Analytics

In his own video message, Natural Resources Canada Minister Seamus O’Regan commended the project as “a model for Canada’s green energy future — one that is Indigenous-led.” 

“We welcome your determination in building the energy capacity to reduce the community’s reliance on diesel, to reduce pollution and to address a climate crisis that has taken a particularly heavy toll on your region,” he said.

In Canada’s north, communities have long relied on diesel for electricity. In Nunavut, for example, 55 million litres of diesel are burned each year to provide power to the territory’s 38,000 people.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged in his 2019 campaign platform to ensure Indigenous communities that rely on diesel are powered by renewable energy by 2030.

Renewable energy set to double in remote areas

According to a July 2020 report by the Pembina Institute, renewable energy projects in remote communities almost doubled between 2015 and 2020. However, there’s much more work to do to complete the transition to renewable energy in these areas.

The report notes population growth has increased annual diesel consumption in remote communities, alongside the gains in renewable energy.

Dave Lovekin, director of the Pembina Institute’s work on renewables in remote communities and co-author of the report, said “it’s a huge leap forward” to see a project the size of the Fort Chipewyan solar farm completed.

“It’s a testament to how quickly things are starting to happen,” he told The Narwhal.

“Comparatively when you look back over the past few decades, things are moving much more aggressively, bigger systems are being developed [and] lots of lessons are being learned.”

“All of that is really built on the leadership that’s being developed in First Nations and Indigenous communities across Canada,” he said.

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If you find yourself in rural Yukon, chances are high you’re in a community powered by diesel. Communities here aren’t connected to a large electricity grid like Whitehorse, or most southern centres, but some are working to gradually wean themselves off fossil fuels nonetheless.

 Yukon First Nations appear to be leading the charge, increasingly turning to renewable energy in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while becoming more energy independent. There’s a solar farm in Old Crow, Yukon’s northernmost community, and a proposed wind project by Kluane First Nation. 

Now, the largest solar project the territory has ever seen — proposed by White River First Nation — has received a green light from the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board. 

Once fully operational, the array of solar panels will be capable of generating enough electricity to replace 350,000 litres of diesel per year — or 60 per cent of the fuel required to meet the community’s power needs, said Chris Cowx, the general manager of Copper Niisuu Limited Partnership, the First Nation’s development corporation.

He said it’s high time to stop using diesel — full stop. 

“You got a noisy, you know, miserable diesel plant blasting away and putting out noxious fumes all day. None of these things are preferable,” Cowx said.

“The fact that we run all of these northern communities almost invariably off of diesel for decades needs to change. That’s not environmentally responsible. It’s not healthy for the communities, and, frankly, it’s not very practical.”

How can Canada’s North get off diesel?

 $15-million solar project would produce 1.9 megawatts of electricity

The $15-million project, primarily funded by the federal government, covers an area of about seven hectares — roughly 10 soccer fields. The array will be built 1.5 kilometres west of Beaver Creek and made up of seven rows of photovoltaic solar panels capable of generating 1.9 megawatts of power (an eighth row could be added eventually). There’s also a battery that can store four megawatts of electricity — enough to power one home in Yukon for a third of a year. 

Cowx said that 31,000 tonnes of emissions would be cut over the project’s 25-year life: this includes diesel refinement and transportation emissions.

Sunlight this far north skirts the horizon during the summer months, so the solar panels will swivel toward the sun to maximize how much they can soak up, Cowx said.

The roughly 100 residents of Beaver Creek, located near the Alaska border above 62 degrees north, could eventually make money off the project through the Yukon government’s independent power producer program. The program enables communities and residents to sell the utility wind, solar and biomass energy they’ve produced for use in its grid. In this case, power bills for individuals wouldn’t change as the solar panels feed into the local grid, but the First Nation would receive the revenue rather than the utility.

Andrew Hall, the CEO of Yukon Energy, recently told The Narwhal the government is in the process of doubling how much the cottage industry can produce by providing financial and technical support to First Nations and municipalities.

Cowx said electricity would be sold to ATCO electric, the community’s power distributor, as soon as Beaver Creek’s solar farm is up-and-running, but couldn’t say how exactly much money could flow back to the community.

“It should crack nicely into the six figures per year,” he said.

Construction is to move ahead at the end of June to avoid the sharp-tailed grouse mating season, Cowx said. “We’re just working out who’s going to be doing the construction and sorting out the land ownership as well.”

Community also has plans for biomass plant

Beaver Creek’s plans to cut diesel usage don’t end with solar voltaics. The First Nation wants to cut its fossil fuel appetite by as much as 90 per cent with the eventual introduction of a biomass plant and district heating system that would supply buildings via a network of pipes.

Yukon is a land of extremes. In the summer, the territory is inundated with sunlight. Then the darkness comes, with the sun rising around 10 a.m. in the depths of winter. The hope is the power generated through biomass would compensate for the lack of light hitting the community’s solar panels at certain times, Cowx said.

“The diesel plant, with a little luck, will be nothing more than a backup,” he said.

 The community is in the process of speaking with forestry experts and companies that do brush clearing to see how much wood fuel is available to power a biomass facility. The plan is to start with powering one or two buildings using biomass, and then expand over the next decade, Cowx said. 

These plans are subject to negotiations with the Yukon government’s property management division, he said. Once the solar farm is established, biomass would be phased in.

What happens next?

The Yukon government is in the process of reviewing the evaluation report by the assessment board — the territorial government is the deciding body, with the power to accept or reject the assessment board’s recommendation or provide terms and conditions for it. 

One hitch is that White River First Nation still has unsettled land claims. It’s one of only three First Nations that aren’t self-governing in Yukon, with 11 that are. This means White River is still beholden to the Indian Act and has less jurisdiction over certain affairs. Because of this, additional consultation between the Yukon government and the First Nation could occur beyond the 30-day evaluation period generally given to such projects, said Colin McDowell, director of lands management, a branch of Energy, Mines and Resources. In sum: it could take a bit longer than usual.

Asked if there could be any changes to the recommendations, McDowell said, “We wouldn’t want to telegraph where we’re going with this necessarily until the end.

A lease still needs to be established for the solar project site, among other things, which the Yukon government would need to sign off on.

“That’s gonna take some time,” McDowell said.

Completion of Old Crow solar farm delayed by coronavirus travel restrictions

Meanwhile, Old Crow’s solar project is nearing completion, meaning Yukon’s only fly-in community is about to rely less on diesel generators — some of which date back to  the 1970s. Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm said the project would displace 189,000 litres of diesel per year. Over its decades-long life cycle, this would equate to a 1,270-tonne reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, including those that come from flying diesel fuel into the community. 

“What we are doing is we are Indigenizing economies, we are Indigenizing contemporary systems,” Tizya-Tramm said, adding that the technology dovetails with traditional principles of environmental stewardship. “I’m really a strong believer that these are simply tools and we may look at them as tools of colonial modern culture, but it does not mean that they can’t be adapted.”

While Tizya-Tramm said Old Crow’s array is the largest of its kind in the circumpolar North, generating 940 kilowatts per year, it’s still smaller than what’s proposed for Beaver Creek. Nonetheless, once online, the system will meet one-quarter of Old Crow’s energy demands per year.

The First Nation already has a purchase agreement in place with ATCO Electric Yukon. Through that agreement, Tizya-Tramm said the solar array will generate roughly $250,000 per year, which will flow back to the community.

But, like so many plans in place before the global pandemic hit, Old Crow’s are temporarily on hold. The solar farm was supposed to be completed on June 21, until that was derailed by COVID-19. The microgrid controller and 616-kilowatt battery have yet to be shipped to the community, Tizya-Tramm said, and, because of travel restrictions, it’s unclear when they will arrive.

“Our solar project caught the COVID virus,” he said.

 The current plan is to have the solar farm up-and-running in September — without these components, which Tizya-Tramm said aren’t essential. While the system won’t be fully-operational, it will still be able to generate supplemental energy for the community.

“We still feel that it’s really important to get it going this year,” he said. “We don’t want to let these setbacks take this opportunity away from us.”

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The oil and gas industry has long been a mainstay for young people — especially men — looking for work in Alberta, and Dustin Taylor was one of them.

Taylor was born in Nova Scotia, where his dad worked on an offshore oil rig. He moved to Alberta as a kid, and found himself in yet another province heavily reliant on the oil and gas industry.

“I left school before I graduated and pretty much started working right off the hop,” he said. “And, like most people in Alberta, I ended up working in the energy industry — working in oil and gas, making decent money.”

He started working in oil and gas when he was 16, without finishing high school.

At his first job, he made $60,000 a year. In the years that followed, he made a lot of money. He partied. He didn’t vote. He didn’t care much about politics.

Something started to change for Taylor as the years went on in the oil patch. He remembers the 2010 BP oil spill as a pivotal moment in his thinking.

“It was plastered all over the news for days, and I watched this giant catastrophe just unfold in front of our eyes for days on end,” he said. 

It was, he remembers, “a heartbreaking moment.”

Fast-forward several years, and Taylor is one of thousands of solar workers in Alberta — and one of many who has transitioned out of the fossil fuel sector into renewable energy.

Taylor is one of the workers The Narwhal came across when we started asking questions about the fledgling idea of an energy transition in Alberta. We wanted to know how switching careers, and industries, has impacted workers’ lives.

Switching careers comes with challenges, such as reduced pay, learning new skills or possible relocation. Labour advocates are adamant that governments need to be planning for an energy transition — and the implications it holds for thousands of workers in the province.

“We need to ensure that the pace of our sustainable energy development is on track to meet climate targets and help ensure the world can reach net zero by 2050,” Lliam Hildebrand of Iron & Earth, an oilsands-worker led group pushing for retraining in renewables, told The Narwhal. “We’re not on track for that right now.”

“If we were, there would be a lot more jobs.”

In Alberta, there’s added uncertainty surrounding the Government of Alberta’s solar rebate program designed to incentivize the installation of new solar systems on homes and businesses. 

The program has been paused by the province’s United Conservative Party (UCP) government, a move critics say is a step backwards in the province’s ability to support needed renewable-energy jobs. 

On the campaign trail, the UCP deemed solar rebates “costly” and vowed to end them. Critics of that move point to subsidies for the fossil fuel sector — a 2018 study found that Canada provides more government support for oil and gas companies than any other G7 nation.

The global energy transition “is going to happen in spite of Alberta,” Rod Wood, national representative with the general trades union Unifor, told The Narwhal. “You’re either part of the conversation or you’re lunch. It’s just going to steamroll over you.”

 “This is going to happen whether you participate or not,” he said.

This has led some workers to change careers early — with or without government transition programs or support for the renewable industry. 

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‘Transition is necessary’

“We’re in the very early days of this transition,” said Mark Rowlinson, who works in the office of the national director of the United Steelworkers union and who is also the president of BlueGreen Canada — an alliance of labour and environmental organizations advocating for a transition into a cleaner economy.

“The transition is necessary because all of the available scientific evidence — most recently expressed by the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report last fall — makes it clear that we’re going to have to transition our economy off of fossil fuels and become carbon neutral,” Rowlinson told The Narwhal.

 It’s not purely political considerations that are driving this transition.

“Oil and gas companies have been investing in solar and wind and other renewable technologies because that will be the next growth market,” Sven Anders, a professor of resource economics at the University of Alberta, told The Narwhal.

Numerous studies suggest that the economics of solar power are increasingly favourable. A 2019 report from Canada’s energy regulator noted “the cost to install solar has fallen by about 50 per cent in the United States over the past five years, and costs have fallen in Canada as well.”

“Falling costs are important,” the report continues, “because they make solar power more cost competitive with other forms of traditional generation.”

How and when the solar-energy industry grows and becomes increasingly competitive in Alberta has huge implications for workers, though a total transition won’t happen overnight.

Anders said investing in renewable energy can mean Alberta has “a second or third or fourth leg to stand on” as the world moves away from fossil fuels.

“There’s an opportunity to create these renewable sectors and harness the sun and the wind and so on,” he said. And, he said, that’s not necessarily a threat to the oil and gas sector.

For those who do want to make the move, the transition to a career in renewable energy doesn’t come without its own challenges.

It hasn’t been an easy transition for everyone, and for some, it still feels impossible. Last year, coal workers described to The Narwhal the difficulties of looking for new lines of work after years spent in the coal mine. 

In response to the phase-out of coal-fired electricity, the Alberta government put together a plan to help workers losing their jobs — including retraining support, extended employment insurance and relocation allowances. Critics said the program wasn’t perfect, but a step in the right direction.

Now many labour advocates are wondering if a similar program is necessary for the oil and gas industry. “The oil and gas industry is a threatened industry; a sunset industry,” Wood of Unifor told The Narwhal. 

“I think it’s imperative that government is involved in this.”

The extractive industries are important employers in Alberta. According to Statistics Canada, roughly 1 in every 16 workers in Alberta is employed in the category described as “forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas.”

“There are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs connected to the fossil fuel industry in this country,” Rowlinson told The Narwhal. “And for the most part, many of those are well-paying jobs. They are jobs that actually support middle class families. Many of them are unionized.”

According to the Government of Alberta’s employment information website, there are 6,700 solar installers in the province. A 2018 report produced by Solas Energy Consulting for the Solar Energy Society of Alberta estimated there will be “8,800 annual full-time equivalent jobs by 2030” in the solar industry.

If the jobs created in renewable energy are precarious or not well-paid, Rowlinson said, “the transition will not be, in any sense of the word, just.”

Right now, there are simply not enough renewable-energy jobs for every oil and gas worker to switch into, even if they wanted to. And plenty of people are simply not interested.

“It’s not like if every worker that wanted a renewable energy job just decided to go all in … there’s not enough jobs out there for everybody to do that,” Hildebrand said. “But there are examples of people who have had success.”

For many, a big concern is the money. “Everybody goes to Fort McMurray to make money,” said Kyle Bauer, an electrician who now works for Kuby Renewable Energy in Edmonton. He acknowledges that he had to take a pay cut to switch industries.

But, he said, that’s outweighed by the positives. He doesn’t have to work in camps. He can be home every night.

And he feels like he’s part of a change that’s important.

“We need to be much more serious and specific about how we’re going to have a plan to transition off fossil fuels in this country,” Rowlinson said.

“The market tends to move with its own feet. If the market sees that the future of the fossil fuel industry is not looking great, it will move quickly,” he said. “And it will move without a plan.” 

“That means there will be wreckage left behind it, and that’s what we need to try to avoid.”

Building an industry

Brandon Sandmaier, too, was looking for a change. He’s a heavy-duty mechanic — so are his brother and his dad — who grew up in the small town of Morinville, Alta. He worked in Fort McMurray in the past, but he wanted something different from that in the future.

“I love changing technology and staying on top of emerging things that are going to, you know, impact the world,” he said.

“Renewable energy was something I didn’t actually know a whole lot about,” he said. “I knew I wanted a change.” He ended up starting his own solar company, Generate Energy.

“At the end of the day we’re trying to build an industry here in Alberta,” he said.

Alberta to end ‘costly subsidies’

While there’s been much talk about the global transition toward renewable energy, that conversation is not as common in parts of Alberta heavily reliant on the oil and gas industry.

One of the United Nations sustainable development goals is to “by 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.” 

The Canada Energy Regulator said in a report released in August that renewable energy is “a fundamental component” of the country’s energy transition.

In the meantime, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has seemingly staked much of the province’s future on oil and gas.

“We’re talking about trillions of dollars of potential wealth,” Kenney said in an interview with CBC host Rosemary Barton earlier this year. “There’s a growing global demand, whether people like it or not, for oil and gas through at least the year 2040.”

When Kenney ran for office, he ran on a platform that his UCP government would “end costly subsidies” for the renewable energy program in the province — a promise all indicators suggest he is keeping.

Alberta no longer accepts applications for its popular rebate program for homeowners or companies that want to install new solar energy systems. (Jess Sinclair, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment and Parks, did not respond to requests for comment.)

Author Sharon J. Riley speaks with Brandon Sandmaier of Generate Energy. Photo: Jayce Hawkins / The Narwhal

Meanwhile, a 2018 report found that, when compared to other G7 nations, Canada provides more government support for oil and gas companies than any other. 

The study also concluded that G7 governments, taken together, provide at least $100 billion (USD) annually to support the production and consumption of coal, oil and gas.

That leaves some wondering if Alberta’s solar rebates were really so costly after all.

Instead of continuing with subsidies, the UCP platform said, Alberta would “welcome market-driven green power to Alberta and the jobs that such renewable energy producers will create.” 

Rowlinson said that’s the wrong approach. 

“There’s no question that governments play a key role in stimulating investment — public or private investment — in renewable energy and making sure that renewable energy creates jobs in Alberta,” he told The Narwhal.

But even without rebates to support the renewable industry, advocates are optimistic about the future of renewables in the province.

“What I think people don’t realize right now is that we’re just as strong in renewables as we are in oil and gas,” Taylor said from his office at Kuby Renewable Energy in Edmonton. 

“The same reason why we were a good farming community is the same reason we’re a great solar community. We get a lot of sun here.”

Rowlinson is excited for workers who have been able to make the transition on their own, and he has a message for other oil and gas workers pondering their own future.

“I think [workers] should be pushing their elected leaders to come up with a plan and a strategy that will create jobs that good-paying family supporting jobs in new energy sectors. They should be looking for governments that actually have a plan to do that,” he told The Narwhal.

“They should be looking for governments that will be prepared to come up with meaningful supports for those workers if and when they have to transition out of their current jobs.”

Oil and gas roots

For each of the solar workers we spoke to, their concerns about their children — and the next generation — were big factors in their decision to work in renewables.

“Personally, my interests align with renewables simply because I have children,” Bauer told us. “I want to make sure my children, and their children, have a world to live in.” 

Sandmaier echoes that sentiment. “From what I’ve read and learned about climate change and the possible effects, it really changes the shape of life as we know it for our children,” he said.

But for the solar workers we spoke to, their career path marked a significant detour from the rest of their families and friends.

“Basically my entire background is oil and gas related,” Bauer said.

“My dad has been a gas plant operator from right when I was little. He’s worked shift work — he’d be gone for holidays, birthdays, that type of thing.” 

“For the majority of my career I kind of followed suit. I was working on the road and doing a lot of long shifts — 24 and 4, 36 and 7, you know.”

But Bauer said working in a local solar company gives him the flexibility to get away from the lifestyle associated with life in the oil patch — and the ability to be at home with his family.

Kyle Bauer said working in solar allows him more time at home with his family. Photo: Jayce Hawkins / The Narwhal

Upskilling

The sheer number of people working in oil and gas in Alberta is seen by some as less of a long-term risk and more of an opportunity.

“We keep hearing how well situated Alberta is for green energy … and the skillset that’s present in this province, as well as the wealth in the province that could stimulate it,” Wood of Unifor told The Narwhal, noting it’s “a possible lost opportunity.”

That’s where “upskilling” comes in, according to Hildebrand of Iron & Earth.

“It’s really important for people to know that most fossil fuel industry workers are really proud of their trades skills and would be excited — and are excited — about the opportunity to apply those skills to building a sustainable energy future,” he said.

But, he added, “they need support in making that transition.”

That’s where calls on governments to support retraining of workers come in — programs that provide financial support to cover the cost of school, as well as lost income while a person is in training.

“One thing that we’ve been advocating for for a while is a national upskilling initiative: a comprehensive suite of programs that help provide workers with the upskilling they need to enter a range of sustainable energy technologies,” Hildebrand said.

The ‘transition’

Dustin Taylor didn’t want to wait around for an energy transition to displace him and his job.

Facing another downturn in the oil and gas industry, Taylor had decided to enroll in the alternative energy program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT).

“I got laid off, again, like everybody else, and I just said enough is enough.”

“I made the decision that I was going to go back to school and try to do something that I thought was important with my life, instead of just looking for a job that was going to make me more money,” he said.

Dustin Taylor. “What I think people don’t realize right now is that we’re just as strong in renewables as we are in oil and gas,” Taylor told The Narwhal. Photo: Jayce Hawkins / The Narwhal

Taylor is now married and has two children — a big factor for him in his decision. “Being in oil and gas for such a long time, yeah it was great and it put food on the table,” he said. “But I knew the consequences that came with that industry.” He wasn’t participating in the future he wanted for his kids.

“People have a hard time dealing with change when things have been comfortable for a very long time,” he said. 

“And in Alberta things have been very comfortable for a long, long time. But every few generations we have to deal with something major that has to change, whether it’s the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution, the computer wave, or climate change,” Taylor added.

“We have to learn to adapt. And it would be nice to see more Albertans get on the bandwagon and see that we can be leaders in this industry.”

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Of all the years of political spin to justify construction of the Site C dam, last week’s media briefing about BC Hydro might get a special place in the hall of fame.

On Thursday, provincial media were invited to the underground theatre at the B.C. Legislature for a “technical briefing” on the first phase of a review of BC Hydro, a public utility so deeply indebted that it’s been flirting with bankruptcy.

For the next 30 minutes or so, media were treated to a shock and awe presentation with a barrage of slides, graphs, numbers and various claims about B.C.’s energy demand and the price of different renewables.

It all bolstered the NDP government’s messaging, rolled out the previous evening in an exclusive story placed in the Vancouver Sun, that contracts the previous Liberal government signed with independent power producers have led to staggering losses for BC Hydro and that the Liberals had manufactured a need for new power.

“The reason Site C is something we are going to need in the future is because it’s firm power,” B.C. Energy Minister Michelle Mungall nevertheless told the Sun in an interview that accompanied the story about the government’s report on independent power projects (IPPs), titled Zapped.

The IPP contracts, Mungall informed media after the technical briefing, were a “sweetheart deal for some” but not a good deal for British Columbians who had “overpaid billions of dollars for power.”

How ironic then, that the NDP government opted for a sweetheart deal for itself when it announced just over a year ago that construction of the Site C dam would continue.

It punted the question of how to pay for the project’s unsightly $10.7 billion tab to a future government, passing the buck to generations of future hydro customers while appeasing its construction trades union donors that had lobbied relentlessly for construction to proceed.

The result is that the NDP is now doing precisely what its report justifiably criticizes the Liberals for doing with IPPs — manufacturing a need for Site C’s power while saddling generations of British Columbians with a project which will produce energy that cannot be sold for even close to the price it will cost to produce it.

Construction on the Site C dam in the summer of 2018. Photo: Garth Lenz / The Narwhal

In January, the conservative C.D. Howe Institute issued a report outlining why Site C — along with the Keeyask dam in Manitoba — is “uneconomical” and should be terminated immediately.

“For projects like Site C and Keeyask, it is not too late to cancel,” said the report, Dammed If You Do: How Sunk Costs Are Dragging Canadian Electricity Ratepayers Underwater.

“The sooner provinces face reality and begin negotiating reasonable cancellation programs, the better off ratepayers will be.”

But now the NDP is recharging efforts to convince British Columbians that Site C’s power is needed and that the troubled project is a bargain, even though the dam’s cost has soared by more than $4 billion since it was announced in 2010 and, according to an independent review, could exceed $12.5 billion.

In 2017, the independent B.C. Utilities Commission concluded that a renewables portfolio, including wind and geothermal, could supply the equivalent power of Site C for $8.8 billion or less, calling BC Hydro’s energy forecasts “excessively optimistic.”

Those forecasts have been wrong for years, according to the Commercial Energy Consumers Association, which represents the province’s commercial sector and business interests. Power demand in the province has been stagnant since 2005, despite a growing population.

To fortify its case for the Site C dam, the NDP government mysteriously dropped the price of Site C power at the technical briefing, thus casting the project in a favourable light compared to other renewables, including independent power projects that could be a good deal for British Columbians.

Instead of costing $83 per megawatt hour, as BC Hydro stated when the Site C dam cost $2 billion less than it does now, Site C’s energy can now supposedly be produced for just $62 per megawatt hour, according to the technical briefing.

Wind power, on the other hand, costs between $70 to $105 per megawatt hour to produce in B.C., journalists were informed — which is odd indeed, because the Alberta government recently bought wind power for $37 per megawatt hour and wind power with storage is selling in the U.S. for US$21 per megawatt hour.

When asked about the discrepancy, the senior civil servants — who can’t be named, according to the rules of the technical briefing — said it was because B.C.’s mountainous terrain makes wind power much more expensive than in other jurisdictions.

Tell that to the Canadian Wind Energy Association, which pulled out of B.C. in 2016 as the Site C dam proceeded. Tell that to Northland Power, which recently constructed the North Sea’s largest offshore wind farm but, as Site C continued, withdrew from two proposed wind projects in B.C., one near Prince George and the other near Summerland, that had the combined capacity to produce half as much power as Site C.

And tell that to First Nations all over B.C. who are eager to join the global renewables revolution but who were shut out by the decision to proceed with the Site C dam — First Nations that had already invested in plans for clean energy projects were told last week that BC Hydro’s standing offer program was not just on hold but cancelled, because B.C. doesn’t need one more watt of power.

And then there’s solar energy. Solar just isn’t a good option for B.C., according to the senior bureaucrats at the technical briefing.

Yet the United Kingdom, not known for excessively sunny weather, has installed enough solar capacity to generate more than twice the amount of Site C’s energy.

A provincial government study found that northeast B.C., where the Site C dam will be built on the Peace River, is ideal for solar. Witness the town of Hudson’s Hope in the district that will be most severely affected by the Site C dam, which recently installed B.C.’s largest municipal solar array and will save an estimated $70,000 a year on its hydro bills as a result.

Curious, too, that BC Hydro recently changed the rules for people who install solar at their own expense.

Unlike other utilities, BC Hydro no longer wants to buy extra power from new solar installations — power the utility has purchased for about $100 per megawatt hour. Granted, those purchases alone don’t add up to anywhere near as much power as Site C would produce, but the price is a steal of a deal compared to Site C’s power, which experts like Eoin Finn, a former partner with the global accounting firm KPMG, peg at $120 or more per megawatt hour.

And let’s not forget that BC Hydro backed away from its energy conservation programs as Site C moved forward — programs that, according to BC Hydro’s former CEO and president, had saved about as much power as Site C will produce.

All the more puzzling, B.C. refuses to follow other jurisdictions and introduce time-of-use tariffs, which would further reduce energy demand.

As for Mungall’s claim that B.C. needs Site C because it is “firm” power, readily available any time, the vast majority of B.C.’s energy currently comes from non-run of river hydro.

That means we already have oodles of firm power, including from the W.A.C. Bennett dam, where water flows into the Peace River have been held back for several years for Site C construction — with the only harm done not to energy supply during cold snaps and heat waves but to Wood Buffalo National Park.

There’s also the “firm” Columbia River power, even more power than Site C would produce, that B.C. sells to the United States. The price the U.S. pays for that power? About $30 per megawatt hour.

But U.S. president Donald Trump thinks $30 per megawatt hour is far too high a cost, and his government has re-opened Columbia River Treaty negotiations in an effort to reduce it.

BC Hydro also has the option of using existing assets like the sixth generating unit at the Revelstoke Generating Station (Revelstoke 6) for additional firm power, if indeed it is ever needed.

Just over a year ago, B.C.’s NDP government said a taxpayer bailout of Site C’s $2 billion in sunk costs would result in “massive cuts to services” on which British Columbians depend (a claim that was immediately slammed by project financing experts and later revealed by The Narwhal to be something of a sham).

Yet on Thursday, the government announced a BC Hydro bailout of $1.1 billion with — wait for it  — no cuts to services.

An eight per cent rate hike over five years is now on offer from the NDP — provided the utilities commission accepts the government’s suggestion that eight per cent is sufficient to cover BC Hydro’s rising costs, let alone to start paying down Hydro’s remaining $4.4 billion debt.

Nor has the NDP ruled out another bailout for BC Hydro.

None of those initiatives, however, will pay for the Site C dam, the astronomical bill for which will only start to come due in approximately five years when the power comes on-line.

The C.D. Howe report takes aim at the NDP government’s assertion that it has no choice but to continue building the Site C dam due to the amount of money that had already been spent.

“Policymakers often justify proceeding with uneconomic projects due to the significant amount of money that has already been spent,” the report’s authors note, a phenomenon known as the “sunk cost fallacy.”

“However, the decision about whether to proceed with a project should be determined by the yet-to-be-spent costs, instead of costs already spent.”

The authors recommend that B.C. and Manitoba consider hiring skilled negotiators to “review all existing contracts and develop a pathway toward minimizing cancellation costs, identifying ways to recover value and exploring means of appropriately compensating key stakeholders such as First Nations.”

Even now, a combination of energy sources such as wind and natural gas, including projects with storage capacity “procured in smaller sizes closer to the period of demonstrated need, would be more cost-effective” than the Site C dam, the report concludes.

In Manitoba, an inquiry is now underway to determine why work continued on the hugely over-budget Keeyask dam even though its energy wasn’t needed. Ironically, that inquiry is being led by former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell, who was so determined to build the Site C dam that his government changed the law to remove the B.C. Utilities Commission from determining if the project was in the financial interests of British Columbians.

Likewise, in Newfoundland, a $37.5 million public inquiry is underway into the boondoggle Muskrat Falls dam on Labrador’s Churchill River. Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador can go online to determine how much their hydro bills will rise because of the ill-sighted dam, with an average $1,800 a year per household reported.

Why did the Crown corporation Nalcor continue building the Muskrat Falls dam, and why did the provincial government let it? Where was the oversight and where were the missed opportunities to stop the project before it was too late? Who manufactured the need for Muskrat Falls energy, and why? What other energy options were available if the need arose? Who knew what, and when?

Those are just some of the questions the inquiry is probing — the same questions that no doubt will be asked one day at the inevitable, and much anticipated, Site C dam inquiry in B.C.

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The language and culture of the Upper Nicola Band honour the natural laws of the tmixw — “that which gives us life.” One tmixw is the sun, which shines for more than 2,000 hours annually in much of the band’s traditional territory in B.C.’s arid Okanagan region.

Plans are afoot to harness the sun’s power to build B.C.’s largest solar farm on the band’s Quilchena reserve, a project that would create enough energy for 5,000 homes and deliver up to $4 million in annual revenues to the First Nation community.

The farm would be 15 times the size of Kimberly’s SunMine solar installation on the site of a former hard-rock mine, currently the largest solar project in the province.

“We wanted to showcase something positive for the environment,” Chief Harvey McLeod told DeSmog Canada.

“Our members will go by and see this and know we are contributing to a cleaner, greener planet. We’re not destroying anything; we’re using the resources given to us by the Creator.”

Solar has been slow to take off in B.C., even though the province receives more annual sunshine than Germany, a country at the forefront of the global solar revolution.

B.C. homeowners can install solar panels through BC Hydro’s little-known net metering program, but solar farms are almost non-existent in the province at a time when they are proliferating around the world, including in countries like the United Kingdom, not typically known for its sunny days.

The U.K. now has almost 12,000 megawatts of installed solar capacity, the majority from solar farms. By comparison, B.C. has a total generating capacity of about 16,000 megawatts, mostly from large dams.

Jae Mather, executive director of Clean Energy BC, said the price of solar has plummeted by almost 20 per cent in the past year alone.

Typical rooftop solar installations on European warehouses are each capable of generating one megawatt of power, and solar farms can produce far more electricity, Mather said in an interview.

“If you compare it [the Upper Nicola solar farm] to the world it’s actually not that big at all.”

“Hundreds and hundreds of megawatts of solar farms are going up in Ontario right now. It’s big for B.C. but still quite small for the world.”

Mather said investors are keen to build solar farms in B.C., but it’s virtually impossible right now to get a commitment from BC Hydro to buy the electricity.

“Until you get an Energy Purchase Agreement (EPA) nothing really matters when it comes to energy.”

“You can have every permit in the world, have huge amounts of money spent, have every tick on every box, but until the EPA is issued nothing matters.”

Negotiations over transmission line revolved around clean energy project

The story of how the Upper Nicola Band managed to leverage an EPA for its precedent-setting solar farm began almost 10 years ago, when BC Hydro approached the band and said it wanted to twin a major transmission line — the Interior to Lower Mainland transmission line — through its traditional territory.

Prolonged negotiations ensued, and the First Nation said it would consent to the line on a major condition.

The band wanted to develop a “clean and green” power project and BC Hydro had to agree to buy the power — not a straightforward proposition considering that B.C. has a power surplus, demand has been flat for more than a decade despite a population surge and a decision to proceed with the $10.7 billion Site C dam has chased some renewable energy projects out of the province.

“We had a lot of negotiations,” the chief recalled. “And part of the compensation was a 15 megawatt project. We included that as one of the terms.”

“We see it as really beneficial for us to get engaged in clean energy. This was one of our priorities. It had to be clean, green energy. And we had some alternatives. We looked at geothermal, we looked at wind and we eventually settled on solar.”

A solar installation could be built on reserve land, for everybody to see, and for the band to own and control, said Chief McLeod.

But before the Upper Nicola Band could build a power project, it had to find the right business partner. In August 2016, the band selected Fortis, a company many British Columbians associate with natural gas.

Fortis is also a leading electricity provider, with more than 80 per cent of its $48 billion of Canadian and U.S. assets in the electricity sector. One Fortis company owns Tucson Electric Power, which has extensive experience in solar installations.

Grant Bierlmeier, business development director for Fortis, described the company’s relationship with the Upper Nicola Band as a “great complementary partnership.”

“They bring the land, they bring the EPA [Energy Purchase Agreement], they bring some labour, and we bring expertise on the solar technology itself and a long-term interest in ownership,” he said in an interview. “We’re all very excited.”

Bierlmeier pointed out that the Upper Nicola Band solar project is moving forward even though the independent power industry “is having challenges getting contracts to sell power to BC Hydro,” largely due to an electricity glut.

“The short answer is no, BC Hydro doesn’t need the power from this particular project,” said Bierlmeier.

“The bigger answer and the more complete answer is ‘yes, they need the power.’ The cost of getting [power] from northeast B.C. to the Lower Mainland is to do this accommodation with the Upper Nicola…to buy power from a renewable project of their selection.”

“So it’s the cost of the Interior to Lower Mainland transmission line.”

The twinning of the transmission line took place as the former BC Liberal government forged ahead with plans to build the Site C dam on the Peace River, and also made plans to shut down Burrard Thermal, a natural gas-fired plant in Port Moody that was on standby to provide electricity to the Lower Mainland.

‘We have to move into the future’

The new $743 million line transmits power from large dams on the Columbia and Peace rivers. It crosses mountains, grasslands, major rivers and highways, and runs “right through the middle of our territory to Vancouver,” explained Chief McLeod.

He said the Upper Nicola Band is now deeply engaged in discussions with the province about putting solar panels on band buildings and homes and investing in wind and geothermal energy, in addition to the solar farm.

The chief sees benefits from clean energy projects aside from revenue, including training opportunities and renewable energy careers for some of his people, instead of shorter-term jobs in the boom and bust resource sector.

“We have to move into the future,” explained Chief McLeod.

“Water is getting more scarce, there’s going to be less of it. We have to look at alternatives [to hydro] and at the same time protect our environment.”

Earlier this month, BC Hydro announced plans to “pursue negotiations” for electricity purchase agreements with five “small and micro” renewable energy projects led by First Nations, including a one megawatt solar power project led by Tsilhqot’in National Government near Hanceville.

Energy Minister Michelle Mungall said in a press release that, “moving forward with the development of these energy projects is a step in the right direction in creating opportunities for First Nations in the province, while also contributing to B.C.’s clean energy future.”

Mather said Clean Energy BC is happy the First Nations-led projects are progressing.

“It’s wonderful for everyone involved. It’s really important for reconciliation, for local economic development and for more clean energy in the marketplace.”

But he said the “rest of the queue” for clean energy projects in B.C. is “not moving forward.”

Upper Nicola Band members will vote in April on whether to set aside 400 hectares of their Quilchena reserve for economic development projects, half of which would be allocated for the solar farm.

Pending approval from band members, a solar farm final investment decision will be made by the end of the year, and construction will take four to six months.

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Being an environmental journalist at this point in history can be a bit, well, depressing. It often means bringing negative stories to light: stories about government failing to balance development with environmental protection, or about companies getting away with harmful practices, or about Indigenous peoples’ rights being set aside in the name of progress.

But it’s not all bad news out there.

And DeSmog Canada wants to celebrate those people and organizations that go out of their way to do development right — those that build their plans around meaningful consultation with Indigenous peoples, minimize environmental harms even at a cost to their business and raise the bar for their industries.

We’ve gathered a list of some of the projects we want to fist-bump this year. We’re not suggesting they’re perfect; any large extractive project comes with an environmental cost. But these are projects that rise above the rest in their efforts to minimize that cost.

The Displacer

Rivers Inlet Run-of-River Hydro Project

High on a hillside above the rusting diesel tanks of Rivers Inlet, a new project is coming to life that will render them obsolete. A run-of-river hydro plant is going to displace most of the community’s diesel use starting in the new year, bringing clean and renewable energy to a remote corner of the province.

But it’s not just the technology that puts this project on our list. This indigenous-led project was planned from the beginning with the local wildlife in mind. The entire system is above the highest point salmon reach in that stream, meaning spawning habitat is not affected.

The road was built in consultation with grizzly expert Megan Adams, who recommended a winding road with lots of escape routes to minimize human-bear contact. And throughout the project’s planning and construction, Wuikinuxv elders and community members were involved and employed by the proponent, the Barkley Project Group.

The Redeemer

‘Namgis-Owned Land-Based Salmon Farm

Fish farming has been one of the hot-button issues on the West Coast for more than a decade. First Nations, environmental groups and other concerned residents are resisting the industry, citing fears over the farms’ effects on wild fish stocks. Specifically, open-pen farms are regarded as being dangerous for their ability to pass diseases to wild fish.

One way around that problem is to isolate the fish in land-based tanks, preventing contact between the farmed Atlantic salmon and their wild Pacific cousins — and that’s exactly the approach taken by the ‘Namgis First Nation-owned Kuterra.

The farm even makes use of geothermal energy to heat the tanks. It’s an expensive way to farm fish, more suited to raising smolts than adult fish, and the company has been hard pressed to turn a profit thus far. But as a way to minimize the known and potential harms of fish farming, this is one way to shake up an industry in need of new ideas.

The Electrifier

Borden Gold

Even with electric vehicles poised to define commuting in the next decade, it still seems ambitious to imagine that the heavy machinery of a mine would be next. But Goldcorp is aiming to electrify an entire mine with its new Borden Gold project southwest of Timmins, Ontario. It wants the underground mine to be all-electric by 2021 — a Canadian first.

The mine will use an electricity and battery-powered underground fleet, which is expected to eliminate all emissions associated with moving ore and waste rock. Bonus: with less diesel fumes kicking around, the Borden Mine will require 50 per cent less ventilation than a regular underground mine.

This means Goldcorp expects to cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than half and eliminate three million litres of diesel fuel, one million litres of propane and 35,000 megawatt hours of electricity every year.

While mining for gold is not essential, mining for other minerals is important for a renewable energy economy and Borden will hopefully set an example for others.

The Transformer

Kimberley’s SunMine

Over the decades, the site of Teck’s (formerly Cominco’s) Sullivan Mine in Kimberley, B.C., hosted a steel mill, fertilizer plant and tailings ponds, rendering the area tree-less for the forseeable future. What to do with an elevated, south-facing slope that could never again see natural shade? Why, build B.C.’s largest solar farm, of course.

With land and capital contributions from Teck, the Province of B.C. Innovative Clean Energy Fund and a $2 million loan to the City of Kimberley approved by 76 per cent of voters, Kimberley’s SunMine project was a no-brainer.

When it started generating electricity in 2015, it became the first solar project in B.C. to sell power directly into BC Hydro’s power grid.

At peak operation, SunMine powers an estimated 200 Kimberley homes, and can generate nearly $250,000 annually in revenue to help repay the initial loan, cover operating costs and, hopefully, expand the project in the future.

Image: SunMine solar array. Photo: City of Kimberley

The Foresters

Cortes Island community forestry project

If managed properly, forests can provide sustainable income for a community while not sacrificing their ecological values. It’s a delicate balance, but one that’s being tried out on Cortes Island, near Campbell River, B.C.

In 2011, the island’s First Nation and non-First Nation communities came together to co-manage their forests for their mutual benefit. Together, they control licences that make up about a third of the island, sharing the proceeds equally between the Klahoose First Nation and the Cortes Community Forest Co-operative.

In contrast to a normal corporate forestry operation, the partnership’s values voluntarily include preservation of the forest ecosystem, the development of recreational trails and protecting biodiversity and aesthetic values — and all the money it makes remains in the community. Even some of the logs stay on the island; the partnership reports that most of the local construction and carpentry companies are making use of its wood.

The Geyser

Valemount, B.C’s Geothermal Project

The town of Valemount, B.C., is sitting on an endless supply of heat and power — and it’s in the final stages of doing something about it. The town has been working on a plan for years that would allow it to first develop a hot spring, then develop a community geothermal plant to meet the town’s existing energy needs and, eventually, use that energy and heat for other uses as well, like heating a greenhouse, brewing beer or melting ice on the streets.

“It has the potential for being a really ticketable showcase to show the world what can be done with geothermal,” owner of the local Three Ranges brewery Michael Lewis told DeSmog Canada in 2016.

So far, the project’s proponent, Borealis Geopower, has secured rights to develop geothermal in Valemount but has yet to receive drilling permits. Exploratory drilling is the next step Borealis will take to identify just how hot the geothermal potential is beneath the town. But if Valemount’s local hot spots are any indication, there’s likely a wealth of clean, sustainable and cheap energy just below the surface.

We’re on the look out for trail-breaking projects to profile. Know of one? Please tell us about it in the comments below!

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Solar-powered curling, anyone? Or what about solar-powered sewage treatment?

Hudson’s Hope, the municipality that would be most affected by the Site C dam, is going solar with a blast.

“It’s starting to look like a real, honest to goodness twenty-first century solar community,” said Don Pettit of the Peace Energy Renewable Energy Cooperative, the business that recently installed 1,580 photovoltaic panels, giving Hudson’s Hope the largest municipal solar array in the province.

The panels — in more than a half-dozen locations, including on the rooftops of the public works shop, municipal building, curling rink, arena, and beside sewage treatment lagoons — will save an estimated $70,000 a year in hydro bills, according to Hudson’s Hope mayor Gwen Johansson.

“Over 30 years, that amounts to savings of more than two million dollars,” Johansson told DeSmog Canada. “If hydro rates go up the savings will be even greater.”

Johansson said Site C had nothing to do with the district’s decision to embrace solar, even though the project’s impacts on Hudson’s Hope will be extensive.

ICYMI: Site C Dam Over Budget, Behind Schedule and Could be Replaced by Alternatives: BCUC Report

“It’s purely a financial decision,” she said. “It’s a pragmatic cost saving.”

Despite conservation efforts such as installing LED lights in the town arena and other district buildings, Johansson said Hudson Hope’s annual hydro bill climbed from $68,000 in 2000 to $172,000 in 2016.

The cost of electricity for buildings with solar panels will be reduced by an average 75 per cent, according to the mayor.

Site C’s Giant Footprint on Hudson’s Hope

Hudson’s Hope, one of the oldest European settlements in the province, overlooks a Peace River canyon more than 60 kilometres upstream from the Site C dam. Known as the gateway to the W.A.C. Bennett and Peace Canyon dams, as well as to globally significant dinosaur trackways, the district markets itself as the “Playground of the Peace.”

But it might have to find another slogan if B.C.’s NDP government opts to proceed with construction of the now estimated $10 billion Site C dam following an expedited independent review by the B.C. Utilities Commission, whose final report was released Wednesday.

The community of 1,000 people would lose 97 properties to the Site C reservoir and the relocation of a provincial highway for the dam. The reservoir would also engulf the town’s water intake, pumping station and treatment plant, and riverside trails that attract tourists and make the quaint and quiet town an attractive place to live.

All told, 670 hectares of land in the district of Hudson’s Hope would be lost to the relocation of a provincial highway for Site C and its reservoir, which would also flood heritage sites such as an old-time ferry landing and the Rocky Mountain Portage House, a fur trade fort site opposite the town that was established by explorer Simon Fraser.

ICYMI: BC Hydro Spent $20 Million Quietly Buying Land for Site C Before Dam Was Approved

To prevent additional homes and property from sloughing into the reservoir, BC Hydro plans to build a giant berm — up to fourteen metres high, seven metres wide and two and a half kilometres long — as part of what it calls the Hudson’s Hope “shoreline protection” plan.

BC Hydro has stated that the berm would have no visual impact on Hudson’s Hope, but the district disagrees. “The sheer size and scale of the Bern will permanently alter the visual appeal and prized valley views of the District for residents and tourists,” the district noted in its submission to the Joint Review Panel that examined Site C for the B.C. and federal governments.

Johansson said more than 1,000 additional hectares of land in the district would also be lost to a BC Hydro statutory right of way. The right of way leaves ownership of the land in private hands, but prohibits property owners from building permanent structures.

“Although landowners get to keep their land there are severe restrictions on what they can do,” Johansson explained. “It gives BC Hydro the right to inundate, erode, or cause the land to slough or slide or to put debris on it.”

Last year, BC Hydro signed a “Partnering Relationship Agreement” with Hudson’s Hope, awarding the district $1 million in compensation for Site C’s impacts and pledging to support the revitalization of a residential sub-division in the district, where it has already purchased at least 80 properties for Site C.

The District’s Conversion to Solar

Hudson’s Hope’s conversion to solar began with a successful $1.35 million application to the federal gas tax fund, which supports local infrastructure priorities.

Greg Dueck, a solar consultant for the energy coop, said the Peace region has ideal solar conditions despite its northerly location. “Our winters are long but we’ve got good sun…We have great summers with long days.”

The district applied to BC Hydro’s Net Metering program, which allows owners of solar installations to sell excess electricity to BC Hydro and to buy electricity when they need it.

One challenge the Hudson’s Hope project faced was BC Hydro’s cap on the amount of power it will allow from any single solar installation in the district. The cap is 100 kilowatts, and Hudson’s Hope planned to install about 500 kilowatts of capacity, said Dueck. “So we had to spread out the arrays.”

ICYMI: Is B.C.’s Tunnel Vision Forcing out Solar Power?

When the solar installation becomes fully operational by the end of the year, the Bullhead Mountain Curling Club building will produce 100 per cent of its electrical needs, while the district’s arena — often the biggest electricity guzzler for municipalities — will meet just over one-half of its energy demand through solar panels.

Dueck said the falling price of solar, combined with the longevity of the photovoltaic panels, make it an ideal choice for municipalities.

“I think this is the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “[Municipalities] are just starting to wake up and say, ‘Wait a minute, we can do this.’ It will reduce their carbon footprint and it will save money every year. Once they put solar on it will pretty much run itself for a very long time. It’s just a really good long-term strategy.”

Elsewhere in the Peace region, Dawson Creek earned the title of “Canada’s First Solar City” in 2012 after it installed solar panels on most of its municipal buildings and embarked on other solar initiatives, such as requiring all new homes to be built “solar ready.”

Fort St. John, seven kilometers downstream from the Site C dam structure, was declared the “Solar Community of the Year” in 2010 after it introduced new policies to encourage solar installations. Among other initiatives, Fort St. John created development permit areas that encourage solar design. It also installed solar powered trash compactors, solar pedestrian signals, solar lighting at bus shelters, and solar hot water and solar air heating in some municipal buildings.

Johansson said the solar panels are a source of community pride and will contribute to long-term economic development. “We are thrilled by the benefits that come with our move to a clean energy future.”

Those benefits included summer jobs for seven Hudson’s Hope high school students, who were hired the coop’s joint venture partner, Moch Electric Ltd., to work on the installation.

The district of Hudson’s Hope, which has expressed concern about the impacts of Site C, has long called for a full independent review of Site C by the BCUC. The Union of B.C. Municipalities, representing the majority of people in the province, also passed a 2015 resolution calling for a BCUC review.

“It didn’t get the full review,” said Johansson, “but at least it’s had an expedited review.”

The B.C. government says it will make a final decision on Site C by the end of the year.

Image: District of Hudson’s Hope solar array via Facebook

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A highly anticipated review of B.C.’s Site C dam has found the project is likely to be over budget and behind schedule and alternative energy sources could be built for an equal or lower unit energy cost.

The report from the B.C. Utilities Commission released Wednesday confirmed many of the concerns that have been raised about the project for years.

The panel found BC Hydro’s mid-load forecast for electricity demand in B.C. “excessively optimistic” and noted there are risks that could result in demand being less than even BC Hydro’s lowest demand scenario.

The panel was “not persuaded that the Site C project will remain on schedule” and found “the project is not within the proposed budget of $8.335 billion.”

Currently, completion costs may be in excess of $10 billion, the report read.

The panel concluded it would be too costly to suspend the dam and potentially re-start construction later and focused its efforts on laying out in detail the consequences of either abandoning or completing the dam. The decision now rests with the B.C. government.

Site C, the third dam on the Peace River, has been controversial for many reasons — but perhaps most of all because the project was exempted from review by the province’s independent utility regulator, the B.C. Utilities Commission.

After coming to power this July, B.C.’s new NDP government immediately sent Site C — which has been under construction for two years — for an expedited review by the commission.

The commission considered 620 written submissions and 304 oral submissions from experts and members of the public in preparing its report.

Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Michelle Mungall said the government plans on making a final decision on the project by the end of the year.

“Now it is our turn, as government, to determine whether Site C is in the best interests of British Columbians, after considering the BCUC’s findings and other issues outside the scope of this review,” Mungall said in a statement.

“This will be an extremely difficult decision. We inherited a project that was advanced by the previous government without proper regulatory oversight, is now more than two years into construction, employs more than 2,000 people, and on which about $2 billion has already been spent.”

The government will meet with First Nations before making a decision, Mungall said.

Energy analyst Robert McCullough, working on behalf of the Peace Valley Landowner Association, said he believes the BCUC report spells the beginning of the end for Site C.

He called the report “courageous” because it basically rejects every part of BC Hydro’s submission, McCullough said.

Site C Dam Over Budget, Behind Schedule and Could be Replaced by Alternatives: BCUC Report https://t.co/u1Mh7hGwVv #SiteC #Hydro #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/9aycFzvRWg

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) November 1, 2017

Faulty Demand Forecasting Used to Justify Site C

The panel’s report finds BC Hydro has continued a historical pattern of over-forecasting electricity demand and notes the accuracy of BC Hydro’s industrial forecasts has been “considerably below industry benchmarks.”

The failure of an LNG export industry to materialize in B.C. has significantly reduced the likelihood that BC Hydro’s load forecasts will be accurate, the panel found.

The panel also found BC Hydro failed to accurately account for the impact that rising electricity costs have on consumption.

Additionally, given current low market prices and the likelihood of increasing supply, the panel found that BC Hydro’s proposed export price forecast “should not be relied upon.”

An independent analysis provided to the BCUC by the auditing firm Deloitte found between 1964 and 2016, BC Hydro overestimated future electricity demand in B.C. 77 per cent of the time.

The panel’s critique of BC Hydro’s demand forecasting falls in line with the analyses and opinions of numerous experts who have pointed out the crown corporation’s long history of inaccurate forecasting and the potential for costly oversupply.

Alternative Energy “Increasingly Viable,” Panel Finds

The panel critiqued BC Hydro’s modelling of alternatives as unreliable, saying it is “opaque in its assumptions” and uses out-of-date cost estimates for wind and solar.

The panel stated it found a pairing of alternative energy sources and conservation efforts “increasingly viable” at an equal or lower cost than Site C

During two days of technical briefings by experts, the panel heard BC Hydro consistently ignored or over-inflated the costs of wind, solar and geothermal.

In a submission prepared for the BCUC, North American hydroelectric expert Robert McCullough noted the price of renewables has dropped dramatically since 2010, when the Site C project was resuscitated by the B.C. government. During the last seven years the price of solar dropped 74 per cent, while wind dropped 65 per cent.

In August, BC Hydro submitted to the BCUC that it had screened out solar energy on the basis of a cost estimate in 2025 of $97/MWh. In response to a follow-up question from the commission, BC Hydro provided updated cost estimates of $48/MWh.

Marc Lee, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, is calling for a public inquiry into how BC Hydro and the former Liberal government made the case for the project.

“It’s amazing. I would like to see a full inquiry to investigate how BC Hydro executives and the previous government essentially conspired to manufacture the case for Site C,” Lee said.

“As someone who strongly believes in public sector institutions and Crown corporations, to have our electricity utility lying to us, making up numbers and doing all sorts of spurious comparisons between its preferred option and the alternative is shameful,” he said.

ICYMI: Geothermal Would Create 15 Times More Permanent Jobs Than Site C, Panel Told

The panel developed its own model for assessing Site C alternatives and found “it is possible to design an alternative portfolio of commercially feasible generating projects and demand-side management initiatives that could provide similar benefits to ratepayers as Site C.”

Further still, the panel found B.C. could pursue alternative energy and swallow the estimated $1.8 billion cost of terminating Site C and still end up with overall electricity costs comparable to building Site C.

The advantage of alternative energy, the panel states, is its incremental nature.

Combining energy conservation efforts with “smaller scale renewable projects provides flexibility to better match generation with demand.”

Conservation programs and smaller scale projects built by independent power producers “have project completion times in the range of months to a few years, and each project (or energy contract if it is contracted through an IPP) is much lower in price than Site C,” the panel found.

Site C Behind Schedule and Over Budget

Construction of Site C has been plagued with costly setbacks, the most significant of which occurred with the appearance of tension cracks along the left bank of the Peace River.

In October, the new CEO of BC Hydro, Chris O’Riley, wrote a letter to the BCUC, acknowledging the crown corporation would not meet its own timeline for river diversion due to “geotechnical and construction challenges” — a setback that would add an additional $610 million to the project’s budget.

An independent audit conducted by the firm Deliotte on behalf of the BCUC also identified the risk of construction setbacks inflating the Site C budget.

DeSmog Canada first reported on June 30, 2016, that the Site C dam was behind schedule and over budget. Documents obtained via Freedom of Information legislation later revealed a co-ordinated attempt by BC Hydro and Premier Christy Clark’s Office to discredit the story.

Because Site C is in the early stages of construction and due to “the lack of certainty” around persistent geotechnical issues, “the additional $610 million may just be the first in what could be a continuing series of additional risk events occurring, resulting in further cost overruns,” the panel stated.

Infringement of Treaty 8 Rights Still a Question

In addition to cost overruns from construction delays, the panel found unresolved questions regarding the infringement of Treaty 8 First Nations’ rights could further add to Site C costs.

The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations maintain the Site C dam represents an infringement of their rights guaranteed under Treaty 8. Although the two nations have brought and lost legal challenges in B.C. courts, the question of rights infringement is far from settled, the panel found.

“The courts have addressed administrative law issues including the Crown’s duty to consult but have not addressed whether the Crown, by approving Site C has unjustifiably infringed the Treaty 8 rights. West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations submit that the Crown bears the risk that in the event a lawsuit is commenced, the court will find in favour of Treaty 8 First Nations.”

Under Treaty 8, the government of Canada promised to guarantee the rights of local First Nations to hunt, trap, fish and continue their traditional way of life on their land.

The option remains for Treaty 8 nations to file a civil case for damages caused by Site C, a possibility the panel considered.

The panel also noted the protection of Indigenous rights and reconciliation were present as a “major sub-theme” in its community input sessions.

“The termination of Site C would be interpreted as a positive and meaningful step in the reconciliation process for those First Nations who did not reach an agreement with BC Hydro,” the panel stated in its report.

So what now?

The panel’s alternative portfolio indicated that under the low-load forecast, new power supply wouldn’t be needed until 2039 and could be met by the addition of 444 MW of wind and demand-side management initiatives, such as increased energy efficiency and optional time-of-use rates.

“The cost to ratepayers of Site C and the Illustrative Alternative Portfolio are virtually equivalent,” the panel states.

But, regardless of the comparative costs, there are other issues to consider when comparing the completion and termination cases, the panel notes.

“Both scenarios involve risk that is not easy to quantify. The major risk of Site C in the short term is whether there will be further construction cost overruns. Site C is a major construction project and therefore inherently at risk of larger cost overruns than a smaller project. It has already exceeded its budget, only two years into a nine-year schedule. There are tension cracks and disputes with its contractors both of which remain unresolved,” the report reads.

B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver said he was encouraged by the report’s finding about alternative energy sources.

“I have long argued that the plummeting cost of alternative renewables makes Site C the unequivocal wrong direction for B.C.’s energy future,” Weaver said in a statement. “Supporting the development of smaller renewable projects presents a significant economic opportunity for all corners of British Columbia.”

It will take leadership to cancel Site C, but it is the right decision, according to Weaver.

“It is unconscionable that the BC Liberals demonstrated such reckless disregard for British Columbians and for sound fiscal management by pushing through such a substantial megaproject without proper due diligence and oversight,” he said.

The panel also notes that there are other ways to meet future energy needs that include changes to government policy. These include re-patriating some or all of the Columbia River Treaty entitlement.

“This energy is generated from water stored behind BC Hydro dams in British Columbia and is as firm and flexible as the energy from Site C,” the panel notes.

Ultimately though, the panel doesn’t take a position on which of the termination or completion scenarios has the greatest cost to ratepayers.

Galen Armstrong, Peace Valley campaigner with the Sierra Club BC, said the case for Site C fell apart “at the hands of BC Utilities Commission.”

“The government is faced with two options: continue with an unnecessary boondoggle, leaving taxpayers and ratepayers on the hook for decades to come, or pivot to a lower-cost alternative energy portfolio including wind and geothermal that would provide jobs for British Columbians at a lower cost,” Armstrong said.

Update Notice: This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. to include additional comment.

– With files from Judith Lavoie

Image: Site C dam construction September 2016. Photo: Garth Lenz | DeSmog Canada

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The solar industry was responsible for creating one out of every 50 new jobs in the U.S. last year and the country’s fastest-growing occupation is wind turbine technician — so no matter one’s feelings on climate change, the renewable energy train has left the station, according to a new report. 

“It’s at the point of great return. It’s irreversible. There is no stopping this train,” said Merran Smith, author of Tracking the Energy Revolution 2017 by Clean Energy Canada. “Even Donald Trump can’t kill it.”

More than 260,000 Americans are now employed in the solar industry, more than double 2010 figures. Meantime, the top five wind-energy producing congressional districts are represented by Republicans.

Chart: Tracking the Energy Revolution 2017.

“Donald Trump can’t kill clean energy, nor should he want to. It’s creating jobs and economic opportunities in rural communities in Republican-led states,” Smith said.

Since 2012, the world has brought more power online from renewables than fossil fuels each year — and that trend continued in 2016.

Chart: Tracking the Energy Revolution 2017.

“Global trends show some renewable energy technologies have reached 'grid parity' with fossil fuels—thanks to falling technology costs—meaning no financial support is required to make their cost equal to, or cheaper than, their fossil fuel competitors,” reads the report.

The European Union led the pack, with 86 per cent of its new electricity capacity coming from renewable sources in 2016.

Chart: Tracking the Energy Revolution 2017.

In 2016, China added 30 GW of new solar capacity — or roughly enough solar panels to cover three soccer fields every hour, according to the report.

By 2015, renewable electricity employment is estimated to have grown to 6.7 million direct and indirect jobs globally, with solar PV the leading technology, employing nearly 2.8 million people. It is estimated that in 2015 Canada was home to 10,500 jobs in wind and 8,100 in solar PV.

Chart: Tracking the Energy Revolution 2017.

The cost of renewables is expected to continue to come down, leading to further job creation. Between 2015 and 2025, the International Renewable Energy Agency projects generation costs for onshore wind to fall another 26 per cent, while offshore wind generation costs fall 35 per cent and utility-scale solar PV costs drop 57 per cent.

Chart: Tracking the Energy Revolution 2017.

While renewable electricity capacity held steady, total clean energy investment fell 26 per cent to $348 billion as the clean energy building boom eased off in China and Japan.

“Both countries are now focused on ‘digesting’ the vast amounts of new renewable energy capacity added in recent years,” the report said.

Meantime in Canada, investment in renewables is down for the second year in a row, dropping Canada to 11th place globally.

Chart: Tracking the Energy Revolution 2017.

“But context matters,” the report reads. “Relative to the top five countries leading the world in renewable energy investment and deployment, Canada already has a remarkably clean grid — deriving more than 80 per cent of its power from emissions-free sources and nearly two-thirds from renewable energy. That fact, coupled with relatively stable demand for electricity, limits the need or opportunity for new investment and deployment.”

For Canada, the opportunity lies in getting Alberta and Saskatchewan off coal, as well as exporting Canadian technology around the world.

“One of the biggest opportunities for Canada is this growing global demand in places like India and China for clean energy technologies and services,” Smith said.

For instance, India has a goal to add 175 gigawatts of renewable electricity in the next five years — more than the entire Canadian electrical system.

“They can’t do it alone,” Smith said. “That’s the opportunity for Canada. It’s taking our knowledge and expertise and services and selling them to the world.”

With 11 Canadian clean tech companies recently making the Global Cleantech 100, Canada is already punching above its weight.

Giving them a boost, last week’s federal budget allocated $15 million over four years to help market clean energy technology to the world.

“In the past there’s been a lot of focus on marketing our oil and gas internationally. Now there’s real money to help these companies export their products to the world,” Smith said.

“As the U.S. government retreats from international climate diplomacy, clean energy innovation and free trade, it leaves a gap that Canada is well-positioned to fill. And it’s clear that if we don’t step up, somebody else will.”

Image: Solar power array at the Gerlach School in Nevada. Photo: Black Rock Solar via Flickr

6 Charts That Show Trump Isn’t Stopping the #RenewableEnergy Revolution Any Time Soon https://t.co/ggdcaCzf9k #cleanenergy #solar #climate

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) March 30, 2017

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

For over a century, the landscape north of Kimberley, B.C., was used for intensive industrial hard-rock mining — but now it’s home to the largest solar farm in all of British Columbia.

Over the decades, the site of Teck’s (formerly Cominco’s) Sullivan Mine hosted a steel mill, fertilizer plant and tailings ponds, rendering the area tree-less for the forseeable future.

What to do with an elevated, south-facing slope that could never again see natural shade? Ecosmart, a Vancouver-based nonprofit, had a brilliant idea in 2008. Why not mine the sun?

“Solar energy is one of the fastest growing industries in North America and its potential in B.C. is exceptional,” explains Ecosmart president and CEO Michel de Spot, one of the main visionaries behind the project.

The solar potential of the sunny Kootenay region of British Columbia is obvious to residents, many of whom moved to, or stayed in the region because of the reliable sunny weather, particularly in Kimberley, a town of 7,500 people.

At 1,120 meters above sea level, it is known as one of the highest elevation municipalities in Canada — high enough to be clear of the dreary inversions that blanket many interior British Columbia valleys with cloud for much of the long winters.

Monitoring activities from 2008 to 2010 showed that Kimberley bakes in the sun for more than 2,150 hours per year, and the sun shines on more than 300 days. This makes the south-facing slope in the Teck lands prime solar power real estate.

With land and capital contributions from Teck, the Province of B.C. Innovative Clean Energy Fund, and a $2 million loan to the City of Kimberley approved by 76 per cent of voters, Kimberley’s SunMine project powered up in June 2015.

“EcoSmart convinced us it could be done without any taxpayer money,” explains Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick.

“All expenses would be covered with revenues generated by the SunMine, including repayment of the $2 million the City borrowed as its share of the capital cost. So with the money questions out of the way, we launched.”

SunMine is the largest solar tracking facility in Western Canada, the largest solar project in British Columbia and the first solar project in the province to sell power directly into B.C. Hydro’s power grid.

SunMine solar farm in Kimberley, B.C. Photo: City of Kimberley.

After the first full year of operation, the numbers are looking good. The SunMine’s 4,032 solar cells generated 1,681 MegaWatt-Hours (MWh) of electricity, which was just over 87 per cent of projected production. The shortfall resulted from the failure of four of the 32 inverters, and delays in finding and installing replacements. Spare inverters have since been purchased and stored at hand to ward off this kind of setback in the future.

In terms of revenue, the SunMine generated 88 per cent of projected annual income, due to the aforementioned technical set back. With power shortfall insurance, returns came in at 95 per cent of the projected $202,375 annual revenue to the City of Kimberley.

Not bad for year one.

Annual operating expenses came in a sunny 28 per cent below expected costs, at $55,203. This left ample revenue to cover loan payments and left more than $12,000 in profits to go toward the City’s SunMine reserve fund.

At peak operation, SunMine powers an estimated 200 Kimberley homes, and can generate nearly $250,000 annually in revenue to help repay the initial $2 million loan, cover operating costs and, hopefully, expand the project in the future.

Thomas Metzler is a local electrician who counts himself lucky to have been part of the project.

“To be part of the largest solar project in western Canada makes me want to do more,” Metzler said. “Thanks to the City of Kimberley’s leadership, we are doing something for our planet, will generate clean energy for our homes, and have taken the first steps for others to follow.”

With acreage and transmission capacity for a 200-fold increase beyond its current size, the project could one day become the largest facility of its kind in the world. SunMine’s partnerships with local colleges as well as a host of other local governments and organizations mean that Kimberley is poised to blaze the trail for solar power production, research and development into the future.

This Old Mine Is Now B.C.’s Largest #Solar Farm https://t.co/pHMYLFrJZ1 #bcpoli #cleanenergy #kimberleybc #SOawesome

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) March 29, 2017

Forward-thinking electricians such as Metzler see the project as a leader that will not only pave the way for more large-scale projects, but also for smaller, home-based solar power generation.

“The cost of solar technology has decreased by 30 to 40 per cent over the past four years,” explains Metzler.

With B.C. Hydro’s net metering option, which pays small power producers 9.99 cents per kilowatt-hour, not only can homeowners reduce their power bills to zero, but they can actually begin to pay off their systems.

Smaller producers and the many owners of sunny, south-facing rooftops are waiting for British Columbia to offer more realistic incentives and pricing for small energy producers.

Solar energy has taken off in many parts of the world, but has been slow to catch on in British Columbia, mainly due to a lack of power production incentives. Programs in Ontario pay residents the true costs of power generation and delivery (between 40 and 80 cents per kilowatt-hour), while B.C. will still only pay the heavily subsidized B.C. Hydro rate-payers rate (currently 9.99 cents/kwh), which does not take into account all the costs associated with the generation and delivery of electricity, or the mitigation of impacts associated with power generation, such as endangered species recovery due to river impoundment and valley inundation behind hydroelectric projects.

Nova Scotia offers lucrative incentives for in-home solar hot water heat, home heating and photovoltaic panel installation.

Many hope the Sunmine project will help raise the bar and urge B.C. Hydro to encourage more renewable energy sources, ones that help B.C. meet its energy conservation targets while concurrently negating the need for multi-billion dollar investments in mega-projects, such as the controversial Site C hydroelectric dam on the Peace River.

Countries like Germany, which generates nearly seven per cent of its annual energy needs using solar power, and China, Taiwan, Japan, and Italy are leading the way in the production of solar renewable energy, while Canada ranks eighth globally in solar energy production. Canada is well positioned to take the lead, however, with 30 per cent higher solar potential than even Germany.

Kimberley’s SunMine has its own ground-breaking individual power purchase agreement with B.C. Hydro, the first of its kind for a solar project, and one that will bring in over a quarter million dollars annually to help cover the start-up costs and ongoing maintenance of the site.

So far, the SunMine has won a total of six major national and regional sustainability, energy, and innovation awards, including 2017’s Canada Clean 50: Outstanding Contributors to Clean Capitalism, sponsored by TD Bank.

Beyond the project’s accolades and stellar PR returns, Mayor McCormick believes the SunMine was worth the financial risk.

“This project created many firsts, and is definitely outside the usual services associated with a municipality. It was an opportunity for Kimberley to rebrand itself as a progressive community. The SunMine is the vehicle to get that message to the world.”

The City is currently seeking a partner to help it move forward towards its vision of expanding the SunMine to eventually power a business park near the facility.

“We are looking to sell the SunMine to a partner with deep enough pockets to expand the facility, ensuring it will make money long term. We then collect taxes, which is really our business model,” McCormick said.

So, who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? As a century of hard-rock mining evolves into the next century of sustainable energy innovation, the City of Kimberley knows it can be done. Now, they just have to wait for the rest of the pack to catch up.

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Across Canada’s north, diesel has long been the primary mode of providing year-round electricity to remote communities — but with the advent of small-scale renewables, that’s about to change.

Northern communities were already making strides toward a renewable energy future, but with $400 million committed in this year’s federal budget to establish an 11-year Arctic Energy Fund, energy security in the north has moved firmly into the spotlight.

“This level of support shows positive commitment from the Canadian government on ending fossil fuel dependency in Indigenous communities and transitioning these communities to clean energy systems,” said Dave Lovekin, a senior advisor at the Pembina Institute.

Burning diesel not only pollutes the atmosphere, but getting it into remote communities is often inefficient in and of itself: it’s delivered by truck, barge or, sometimes when the weather doesn’t cooperate, by plane.

There are more than 170 remote indigenous communities in Canada still relying almost completely upon diesel for their electricity needs.

But, for some, at least, that’s beginning to change. Take the community of Old Crow (Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation), above the Arctic circle in the Yukon.

Despite its northern latitude, and near total darkness between December and February, a 2014 Government of Yukon pilot study demonstrated that solar represents a major untapped renewable resource for the community.

Many homes in Old Crow, north of the Arctic Circle, still rely on diesel, but that's changing. Photo: Matt Jacques.

Now Old Crow has a number of small-scale solar panel installations, including an 11.8 kilowatt array at the Arctic Research Centre — but its sights are set higher. Plans for a 330 kilowatt solar plant are well underway. A 2016 feasibility study estimated that this large-scale installation could offset 17 per cent of the community's total diesel use, or up to 98,000 litres of fuel each year.

“Anything that affects our community, we want to have control over. That’s our goal with this project is to have ownership over the facility,” said William Josie, director of Natural Resources for the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. “We burn a lot of fuel up here per capita and we’re trying to reduce that.”

Josie said his community is excited to build further solar capacity.

“This has been in the works for a long time, and it’s just the right thing to do,” he said. “It’s the first solar project of this size in the Yukon with community ownership.”

The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation has a self-governing final agreement in place with the Government of Canada, the Government of the Yukon and the Council of Yukon First Nations. So too does the Kluane (Burwash Landing/Destruction Bay) First Nation in the southwestern Yukon, which is taking another approach to delivering a similar level of renewable energy capacity.

A major $2.4 million wind power generation project is set to be installed in 2018. Three refurbished 95 kilowatt turbines will deliver just under 300 kilowatts of total power and are estimated to offset 21 per cent of the community’s total diesel use.

“One of the big things for the community is to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. Diesel is neither of those two,” explains Colin Asseltine, general manager of the Kluane Community Development Corporation. “We’re looking at what we can possibly do to reduce our carbon footprint and move off-grid.”

The wind project will expand on the earlier successes in the community. Since 1998, Burwash Landing has used biomass for district heating, and began selling solar power back into the grid not long after installing a 48 kilowatt array in 2003. Along the way, they have been collecting the data required to inform the next steps and increase the impact of the community’s investment in renewable energy.

Meet the First Nation Above the Arctic Circle That Just Went #Solar #yukon #arctic #cleanenergy #cdnpoli https://t.co/B9Um6R7yJq

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) March 28, 2017

A geothermal test well provides promise for increased food security.

“Connecting that to our greenhouse projects will really help with the possibility of growing year-round, and having a positive effect on food sustainability at the same time. Both renewable energy and food security go hand in hand, so we’re working on those together,” Asseltine said.

While these two communities have shown that renewable energy solutions are indeed feasible for remote northern environments, hurdles remain.

“Our biggest challenge right now is just to secure capital costs” Josie said. “We’re looking for $2 million to $2.5 million, depending on the final engineering and design.”

Lovekin, from the Pembina Institute, underscores this point, explaining that “the challenges on the technology side are nowhere near the challenges on the financial and community capacity side.”

Up until now, federal and provincial or territorial funds have focused on financing initial development costs.

“The first focus on funding capital expenditure is good, but governments simply putting in money to get systems built has been shown to not be a sustainable strategy to support these communities to fully develop their projects,” Lovekin said. “The more challenging part is the ongoing operations and maintenance and ability for communities to maintain the systems. Systems will break, nobody's there to fix them, and there's little funding for that.”

And once systems are operational, their long-term economic viability largely rests on the value of the Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) that is offered by the local utility operators.

“In order for that whole model to be successful, you need a better and more fair PPA price than what has typically been offered in the north. Typically the PPA will simply offer the avoided cost of diesel fuel, so whatever it costs to get a litre of diesel up to the community via winter road or barge,” Lovekin adds.

Renewable energy systems typically have lower operating and management costs, and Pembina and others are working to ensure PPA prices reflect true cost savings.

“The federal carbon tax coming into play will also make diesel systems even more costly, so there’s opportunity to look at a PPA price for renewable systems that will not pay the carbon tax, as well as other externalized costs such as diesel fuel spills, financial bailouts when winter roads deteriorate and fuel needs to be flown up. So addressing all of that in what gets offered via a fair and equitable PPA would be ideal,” Lovekin said.

On the community capacity side of the equation, initiatives such as the 20/20 Catalysts Program and the Indigenous Clean Energy Network are providing essential training, and mentorship for indigenous communities making the transition to renewable energy.

Nonetheless, Lovekin feels there is a critical need for “more training, skill development and job establishment to support the community getting involved in their own transition. There need to be barriers removed to have more capacity built and leadership come from within the community.”

That’s where the new federal funding could be a game-changer.

“The real test will be in the types of policies and programs that are developed and how they are designed to support energy autonomy and create economic development within and for Indigenous communities,” Lovekin said.  

Image: Solar panels in Old Crow, Yukon. Photo: Matt Jacques

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