BC's Rush for Hydro Power

The number of water licences illustrated on the map on the opposite page may make you wonder what is going on in British Columbia. To date, BC Hydro has signed over $28-billion worth of agreements to purchase power from private companies, and, as of October 1, 2008, had granted 113 private power water licences and had applications for 559 more. But this may only be the beginning of the rush. A consulting report has identified over 8000 candidate run-of-the-river hydro sites on BC’s rivers. ...