Public Submission to BC Green Energy Advisory Task Force Groups 1 - 4 - PART 2

B. C. TAP WATER ALLIANCE
December 31, 2009

Energy Matters - Electricity Restructuring in Canada

The move to competition and restructuring of monopolies which has taken place in the transportation, airline, natural gas and telephone industries has most recently come to the electricity industry. As in these other industries, there are many factors leading to change and, most importantly for consumers, they produce an environment of potential gains and potential risks for utility customers.
The first electricity restructuring took place outside North America in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Scandinavia. In 1994, California began the process of restructuring its electricity industry and other states, primarily in the North-eastern United
States, followed. Developments in Canada have been more tentative, but will be impacted by what happens in the United States.
Richard Gathercole has produced a 27-page paper on the present state of electricity restructuring, with particular emphasis on Canadian developments. It describes the major players and their positions, identifies a number of important consumer issues, and suggests how consumer groups should approach electricity restructuring. 7
Under the circumstances for “consensus” mandated by the provincial government on March 26, 1997, it is interesting to note that Dr. Jaccard, who wrote a report in late 2008 for the Independent Power Producers of BC to specifically peer-refute public power authors Marvin Shaffer and John Calvert, nevertheless wrote a separate lengthy report, Reforming British Columbia’s Electricity Market: A Way Forward, stating that it was a “final report” not “in keeping with the Terms of Reference” for “consensus among the Stakeholder Group.” In section 2.6 of his report, Key Elements of Electricity Market Reform, was consideration of “whether or not any publicly-owned assets should be privatized”, and “achievement of competitive electricity commodity prices in an effectively functioning de-regulated market”.
In Jaccard’s January 30, 1998 report, he wrote:
The work of the Task Force was informed by citizens, local governments and representatives of organizations who wrote, telephoned or spoke to Technical Staff or Stakeholder Group members, or who made presentations at the public forums held in various communities in the province.
Appendix D of Jaccard’s report, Public Participation, stated:
As described in the background chapter, the Task Force explored various mechanisms to expand the opportunities for broad input into its analyses and deliberations, including the following: consideration of independent written submissions to the Task Force as well as of the submissions to the postponed BCUC hearing on Retail Access and Unbundled Tariffs;
organization of public forums in various communities throughout the province where individuals and organizations could become more informed about the activities of the Task
Force and make oral submissions; scheduling of interactive radio interviews with the Advisor on a number of stations throughout the province; and public review and comment on the Advisor’s two interim reports.
7 Public Interest Advocacy Centre newsletter, October 1998, Volume 2.3.

Below is a list of individuals and organizations that provided valuable input and feedback to the Task Force, either by attending a public forum or by sending in a written submission. Also included in this appendix are the schedules of public forums and radio interviews held throughout September and October 1997.
In Appendix C of Jaccard’s report, Stakeholder Group and Technical Sub-Committee Activities, “The Stakeholder Group held a total of 16 meetings throughout the Task Force process in an effort to reach consensus on an electricity market reform package for the province.” The meetings were conducted over a seven-month period (April 25 to November 5), with four technical sub-committees active over a five month period (June to October).
Members on Jaccard’s Task Force: The Council of Forest Industries, West Kootenay Power Ltd., International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Independent Power Association of BC, BC Hydro, Inland Pacific Energy Corporation, Association for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy Policy (2 members), BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Union of BC Municipalities, Mining Association of BC, BC Health Services Ltd., Powerex, Columbia Power Corporation, Columbia Basin Trust, Office & Professional Employees’ International Union Local 378, Industrial Customers (Council of Forest Industries, Mining Association of BC, Electrochemical Producers).
Despite the outcome of Jaccard’s 1997 Task Force that remained “without consensus”, the critical issue here was the lengthy public involvement process and public stakeholder representation that transpired under the previous provincial administration, in stark contrast to the BC Liberal’s present Green Energy Advisory Task Force.
2.b. Similar democratic provisions and representations were made during the Kemano 2 hearings, albeit under the BC Utilities Commission, which is not a task force, but an independent decision-making committee. What it is important about the Kemano hearings, about a large private company, Alcan, with significant water license diversion rights proposing more access to those rights and environmental consequences to fish habitat and water flows, etc., is that they were held over a long period of time with much public involvement and scrutiny.

3. Premier Campbell’s Task Force on Energy Policy

Three and half years after Jaccard’s report, and three months after the BC Liberal Party came to ‘power’, “the Premier of British Columbia, the Honourable Gordon Campbell, established a Task Force to draft an energy policy framework for British Columbia.” 8 In the Task Force on Energy Policy’s November 30, 2001, 89-page, Interim Report, Strategic Considerations for a New British Columbia Energy Policy, it stated that “this Interim Report presents the preliminary findings and conclusions of the Task Force and is presented for public consideration and comment prior to the Task Force finalizing its recommendations to government.”
The recommendations in this Interim Report are consistent with the Terms of Reference provided to the Task Force. Some recommendations and policy options will lead to vigorous and lively public debate. This is as it should be. The recommendations should be examined, however, not only individually but as components of a comprehensive policy. It is the
8 Strategic Considerations for a New British Columbia Energy Policy, November 30, 2001, Task Force on Energy Policy, Interim Report.

comprehensive policy that is necessary if British Columbians are to enjoy a reliable, secure and environmentally sound supply of energy.
The Task Force considers that the strategic directions in the Interim Report and the policy recommendations that follow from them establish a solid foundation for a new provincial energy policy. The vision reflected in this Interim Report is for an energy policy that will position the province to take full advantage of its energy potential and sustain economic development in the province for several years. If the past can serve as a guide, a comprehensive energy policy should be the early-21st-century equivalent of the two-river policy of the late 20th century.
In contrast to the 1997 Task Force, Appendix 2 of the Interim Report stated that the 22-member 2001 Task Force were all government ministry representatives, divided into five separate “Working Groups” under the guidance of five separate chairs. The Terms of Reference stated that “The Energy Policy Development Task Force will be chaired by Jack Ebbels, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, and will include:”
• Peter Meekison, former Deputy Minister, Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs, Alberta;
• John Bechtold, former senior executive with Petro Canada having extensive knowledge in natural gas;
• Erik Westergaard, an expert on electricity issues with extensive experience in Australia and New Zealand and now a Vancouver-based management consultant on energy;
• Brenda Eaton, Deputy Minister to the Premier and a former Deputy Minister of Energy.
The Task Force will be advised by a work program directed by Doug Allen, a former provincial Deputy Minister who has worked on energy issues for the last five years and who will be supported by a number of energy experts inside and outside government.
The 22 members were from the Crown Agencies Secretariat (1), BC Hydro (2), Ministry of Energy and Mines (17), the Oil and Gas Commission (1), and the Attorney General’s office (1). Appendix 2 states how the membership was “supported by a number of experts inside and outside government with particular assistance from officials at the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection”, but fails to identify the names of the contributors.
Appendix 4 states that the Task Force received a total of 59 submissions (50 from associations and companies, 9 private).
From the beginning of the formation of the Task Force in August 2001, the time period for its operations was originally scheduled to extend a period of six months, until February 28, 2002, when the government would announce the final energy policy. This schedule included a single appointed day, January 15, 2002, for “consultation with selected parties.”
However, as energy critic University of Victoria Professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau stated in a March 20, 2002, two-page critique, Why is the provincial government hiding the Energy Task Force final report?, the final report was being delayed and withheld:
“Transparency” is one of the core values mentioned in the February service plan of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. However, after the Energy Task Force handed in its final
report to Minister Richard Neufeld, on Friday, March 15, he decided to keep it confidential until the new British Columbia energy policy is announced sometimes in the future. With such a unanimous disagreement on the Interim Report of the same Task Force (released December 15, 2001), political wisdom was probably suggesting a very limited release of the document, rather than a huge diffusion of it. If the government simply wanted to avoid more “union” or “social” opposition, we could have imagined that this digression from one core value is indeed a good move, to let the Ministry concentrate on the implementation of its high-quality and well-thought reform. However, everything points to another direction: that the government is trying to overshadow (1) its lack of compelling energy policy, (2) the unworkable “competitive” electricity market they propose and (3) the short-run agenda to develop the BC hydrocarbon business to restore the public finance.
Summary
What we find, in the comparative review analysis of various Task Force groups over the years, is that the Premier’s Green Energy Advisory Task Force has serious shortcomings regarding public accountability and involvement.
Will Koop,
Coordinator.
Email attachments from Save Our Rivers website, www.ourrivers.ca, (located on its “action” page link, www.action.saveourrivers.ca ):
Green Energy Advisory Committee Backgrounders:
• Introduction
• Task Force Group One
• Task Force Group Two
• Task Force Group Three
• Task Force Group Four