There’s strength in numbers, especially when dealing with a large Crown corporation.
District of Clearwater is going to invite District of Barriere, Village of Valemount, Village of McBride, Thompson-Nicola Regional District and Fraser-Fort George Regional District to meet with BC Hydro during the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities convention.
“We need more power and we need an alternative for the Valley,” Bert Walker told a meeting of Clearwater town council last Tuesday.
The Clearwater councilor noted that if the proposed Yellowhead copper mine near Vavenby goes ahead, the present electrical system would be inadequate.
According to Yellowhead’s website, the mining company is paying BC Hydro to engineer a new 230 kV line from 100 Mile House to connect to the existing transmission substation at Clearwater. The present BC Hydro transmission is rated at o 138 kV at Vavenby.
The Valley’s electrical system also should be looped to make it more reliable, Walker felt. Connecting with 100 Mile House would help, but wouldn’t change things much for those farther north.
‘Clearwater should take the lead on this,” he said. “If getting better electrical power helps economic development in Blue River, then Clearwater will benefit too.”
The UBCM convention will be held Sept. 26 - 30 in Vancouver.