Introduction
On November 1, the BC Utilities Commission (Commission) released
its final report (Final Report) in the "Inquiry Respecting
Site C" (Inquiry).
In short, the Commission Panel (Panel) suggests that a basket of
renewable projects has a comparable cost as completing the
controversial Site C Hydroelectric Project (Site C or the Project),
leaving to government the task of comparing (a) dam construction
cost risk against future renewable technology cost risk, and (b)
how to deal with the substantial costs already spent and associated
termination/remediation costs.
More specifically, the Final Report analyzes the implications,
and notably costs, of three options for Site C: (1) Completion,
with a risk of an in-service date later than 2024 and a cost of
over $10 billion; (2) Termination, with the combined termination
costs (estimated at $1.8 billion) and the costs to secure
generation from alternative sources being comparable to completing
Site C (the Panel
