Why the Site C Dam is So Wrong

The BC government announced yesterday that a massive, $6.6 billion hydro-electric dam (being called "Site C") on the Peace River in Northern BC is a go. At first glance you may think "hey, hydro, that's green power. Perfect!" And yes, hydro is and can be very green power. The main problem with Site C is its massive size.

BC Hydro Site C Web-page

Here's why the current plan for Site C is terrible...

• Dams of this size create reservoirs that cause massive destruction to the land and never really become the "lake" we are promised. We need only look at the effects from the W.A.C. Bennett dam that was built in the 60s to see that.
• This dam is going to flood over 5000 hectares of land, virtually all of it fertile land that either is currently or could be farmed. It makes no sense to flood fertile land in an age where food security and availability is becoming an increasingly critical issue. This land is as productive as the Lower Mainland because of the long summer days they get this far north.
• There are so many other ways to produce this much power: smaller dams like run-of-river systems, wind, geothermal, solar, tidal. We have all of these available to us (in virtually unlimited quantities) in BC, so why is the government stuck on a single massive project?
• We don't need more power, at least not this much. BC Hydro and the government will tell you that BC now has to import about 15% of its power, which is creative accounting. The fact is BC Hydro sells lots of green power at a premium to the US, and buys cheaper dirty power to make up for what we need. In addition, BC Hydro admits they plan to achieve 70% of future power needs through energy conservation. I think that number can be even higher - the problem in this province is that our power is far too cheap, leaving little incentive to conserve.
• The Site C dam is no where near where most of the power is being used. Approximately 13% of the power generated 1000's of km away in the Peace is lost during transmission. We should be looking at generating more power near to and within the Lower Mainland.
• Finally, there's the cost. $6.6 billion? Really? How can we justify spending this much when private companies are falling over each other trying to develop green power in this province at no cost to the taxpayer?
  

A great series of articles from The Tyee goes into detail on the downsides of building this dam - check it out!
Disturbing the Peace: The Case Against the Site C Dam