BC Hydro announces third quarter results
VANCOUVER – BC Hydro today announced its third quarter financial results for fiscal 2010 [PDF, 1.3 Mb], reporting a consolidated net income of $113 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, which was $45 million lower than the same period in the previous year.
"Although the global economic recession appears to be stabilizing, the market conditions during the quarter negatively affected our energy trading business and our results for this quarter," said Bev Van Ruyven, acting BC Hydro president and chief executive officer. BC Hydro experienced lower energy trading results, and weakness in global demand for pulp and newsprint resulted in lower demand for electricity from the industrial sector, offset by lower prices for energy purchases compared with the same period in the previous year.
Key financial highlights include:
- Domestic revenues were $837 million – $74 million higher than the previous year, as a result of higher average customer rates, partially offset by decreased revenue from the large industrial sector due to closures of pulp and paper operations in the forestry sector.
- Energy trading results were lower than in the previous year due to the weakening of the U.S. dollar and to lower price spreads between the Northwest and California and between B.C. and Alberta as lower demand for electricity combined with abundant natural gas supplies kept market energy prices low.
- Water inflows into system reservoirs during the quarter were at 85 per cent of historical average due to low winter snowpacks and very low precipitation during the first half of the 2010 fiscal year. However, both hydro generation levels and market energy purchases required to meet domestic load demand were comparable with the same period in the previous year, which was also a low water inflow year.
- Capital expenditures of $375 million in the quarter were in line with the same period in the previous year, as BC Hydro continued its programs to meet load growth and maintain its aging infrastructure through expenditures on replacement and expansion of generation facilities and on distribution system improvements and expansion.
Contact:
Susan Danard
Media Relations
Phone: 604 623 4220