With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1498118
INVEST in BC 2 0 2 3 15 Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness. "In B.C. we are very fortunate to have an ample, abundant supply of clean hydro- electricity," says Diana Stephenson, senior vice-president of Customer and Corpo- rate Affairs for BC Hydro, the govern- ment-owned electrical utility. Ninety-eight percent of the province's electricity is generated from renewable sources. Unfor- tunately that still leaves almost 70% of the energy used in the province, for everything from transportation to home and commer- cial heating, to be supplied by fossil fuels. But perhaps not for long. The provincial government's CleanBC Plan aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 40% by 2030. With the help of incentives, businesses and residents alike are making the switch to cleaner energy sources. "Of our 25 largest customers here in British Columbia today, we know that three-quarters of them have aggressive ESG [environmental, social and gover- nance] targets that they themselves need to meet in the coming years," Stephen- son says. In 2021 BC Hydro unveiled its Electrification Plan, which dedicated $260 million towards helping customers replace fossil fuel use with clean electricity. The utility is offering industrial users discount- ed rates, project funding and assistance with siting new facilities. It's also reaching out to businesses looking for clean sources to power their operations, such as data centres and hydrogen fuel producers. To use one example, Hydra Energy broke ground last year on what promises to be the world's largest hydrogen refuelling station in Prince George. Part of a planned network across western Canada to supply hydrogen to diesel-hydrogen hybrid heavy-duty trucks, the facility will produce "green" hydrogen from water using two five- megawatt electrolysers. But can BC Hydro meet all these new demands for power and keep it green? "Right now we are in a good position from a supply perspective," Stephenson says. Hydro's 30 existing hydroelectric plants are projected to meet supply through 2030, and the Site C project under construction on the Peace River is expected to add a further 8% to the current supply when it comes online in 2025. HEAVY LOAD: Giant haul trucks at the Copper Mountain Mine near Princeton run on electric trolley lines (top); BC Hydro is helping electrify the province's highway system with charging stations even in remote locations (above)