It’s time for Dave Mix the BC Hydro Power Smart Guy to give Tri-City residents a high-five because their conservation efforts and those of other Metro Vancouver residents have helped shelve a major power project.
Tri-City, Burnaby, Vancouver and New Westminster residents aren’t using as much electrical power as expected, according to BC Hydro, resulting in the cancellation of a planned 230-kilovolt transmission line that would have stretched from Coquitlam to Vancouver, including an underwater cable.
The Metro North Transmission Project had been on the books since 2013 and was being promoted in community consultation meetings as necessary to meet the growing demand for energy in the region.
Turns out, we’re not using as much power as had been forecasted.
Watch a video of "Dave" talking to residents about saving energy at the bottom of the story
Power needs were supposed to grow by 2% a year; instead, peak load has remained “relatively flat,” according to BC Hydro.
The project has now been cancelled, resulting in sighs of relief from some Anmore residents who wanted the power lines near their homes to be placed underground and organized a petition based on health concerns.
That petition drew 700 names but it isn’t the reason for the cancellation, according to BC Hydro.
Spokesperson Kevin Aquino said in an email to The Tri-City News that several factors have contributed to the lower load forecast for the region.
“One of these factors is the high adoption of our conservation programs that we’ve seen amongst our customers in the area," he said.
Switching to LED lights, which are about eight times more efficient than incandescent bulbs, has resulted in a reduction in electricity demand, said Aquino, who also noted new buildings are more energy efficient and more people are living in apartment buildings with smaller square footage, resulting in lower electricity use.
After reviewing power needs last year, BC Hydro decided to shelve the project, which would have seen the line in an existing right-of-way through Coquitlam, Anmore and Port Moody starting at the Meridian substation in Coquitlam; an overhead crossing of Burrard Inlet between Port Moody and Burnaby, transitioning to an underground cable connecting to Horne Payne substation in Burnaby; and finally an underground line from Horne Payne substation to Mount Pleasant substation in Vancouver.
It’s not known how much the project would have cost because it was still in the project definition stage, according to Aquino.
But the longer term needs of the region are still expected to grow and while the new power line isn’t needed until 2035, Aquino noted that “provincially, we are still expecting moderate long-term load growth, primarily due to industrial development in the oil and gas sector, electric vehicles and population growth of approximately one million people by 2040.”
