Transmission project will meet demand for electricity, economic development
Vancouver, B.C. – BC Hydro filed today an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission to proceed with its Dawson Creek/Chetwynd Area Transmission Project to improve customer service and meet future electricity demand in British Columbia.
Electricity demand in the South Peace region is growing 10 times faster than the BC Hydro system as a whole. This is primarily due to natural gas development and related economic activity. This project is estimated to cost about $250 million and would double the capacity of the electric system in the region and create up to 110 jobs per year, during construction stage.
BC Hydro filed a regulatory application to proceed with this transmission project as part of its regeneration program to meet the growing demand from new customers and facilitate regional economic development.
“BC Hydro is moving ahead with this important transmission project that will meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity in the South Peace region,” said Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman. “The project will also support economic development in the area by supplying firm, clean electricity to new industrial customers, and improving the quality of service to existing customers in the Dawson Creek area.”
BC Hydro requires a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the British Columbia Utilities Commission to advance the project. When the project receives the certificate, construction will begin in 2012 and the line will be in service by October 2013.
The Dawson Creek/Chetwynd Area Transmission Project is a proposed 230-kilovolt double-circuit transmission line, spanning about 60 kilometers between the planned Sundance Substation, to be located 19 kilometres east of Chetwynd near Highway 97, and Bear Mountain Terminal. A second 230-kilovolt double-circuit line, about 12 kilometers long, will connect Bear Mountain Terminal to Dawson Creek Substation. Bear Mountain Terminal will then be expanded into a full substation [PDF, 356 KB].
“At BC Hydro we’re powering B.C. with clean, reliable electricity for generations, and in doing so, supporting economic development in key regions such as the South Peace,” said BC Hydro Executive Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Greg Reimer. “This project will double the region’s electricity system capacity for new industrial customers wanting to interconnect to the BC Hydro system and create not only project-related jobs but also those needed to fuel the area’s growing natural gas activity.”
The Dawson Creek/Chetwynd Area Transmission Project is part of BC Hydro’s plan to improve, replace and reinforce aging electrical infrastructure originally built primarily between 1950 and 1980. Improvements will range from upgrading dams and generating stations to building entirely new transmission lines linking existing and new substations. The new investments will enable BC Hydro to maintain some of the lowest electricity rates in North America.
For more information on the Dawson Creek/Chetwynd Area Transmission Project, please visit http://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/projects/dcat.html.
About BC Hydro
Fifty years ago, British Columbians turned to BC Hydro to build the clean electricity system they count on to power B.C.'s economy, create jobs in every region, and keep the lights on. Now, BC Hydro is building again for the next 50 years. B.C. continues to grow and so has the need for more electricity. That’s why BC Hydro is building, renewing, and encouraging conservation to meet today’s needs and those of future generations. In 2011, BC Hydro is celebrating 50 years of providing power for British Columbians, and inviting them to help prepare for the next 50 years.
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