To the editor;
Recent warnings of flood and high water levels in B.C. are strong testimony to this year’s rainy spring and higher than normal B.C. snowpack.
They also mean the province’s many hydroelectric dams will not be short of water this year like they have been for most of the past decade.
As crazy as it sounds, for most of the past decade, B.C. has actually had to import power from outside the province to meet the province’s energy needs. And much of that imported power has not been clean hydroelectric power. Much of it has been coal-fired.
We have an incredible amount of green, renewable energy in this province that we could be developing to meet our energy needs. We should not need to import power here in B.C. even in a low water year.
Considering the fact that this year’s higher than normal water flow is clearly the exception rather than the rule, we should not allow it to lull us into complacency.
We need to get on with developing our renewable energy resources and we need to do it aggressively so that we are ready for whatever the future holds for our province.
Robert van Dyck
received by email