B.C.’s new natural gas and liquid natural gas (LNG) strategies have opened the way for First Nations to participate as key players in the multibillion-dollar energy industry, said Judith Sayers, director of the Clean Energy Association of B.C.
Premier Christy Clark announced last week that the province would develop up to four LNG plants to export B.C. gas to Asia. Sayers said building that capacity will require massive amounts of new electricity to squeeze billions of cubic metres of gas into liquid form. That power must come from a grid that is currently near its limit, and there is only one major hydro project, called Site C, on the drawing board.
“The government is going to insist that the new LNG plants must be fired by electricity,” Sayers said. “The amount of power that is going to be required will far exceed what Site C would provide if it goes ahead.”
That means B.C. Hydro needs to acquire new generating capacity from multiple sources around the province, and that is where B.C. First Nations are in a position to help fill that demand.
“Right now, we have 125 First Nations working with power companies in some way,” said Sayers. “Some are in partnerships, some are in revenue-sharing agreements.” Haisla First Nation is involved in one of the three LNG plants proposed in the Kitimat area.
The Haisla project is estimated at about $450 million, and already has an export license in place. A much larger Shell plant is in the $7- to $10- billion range.
While northern B.C. First Nations strongly oppose building a pipeline and shore terminal to ship tar sands crude oil, natural gas is a whole different proposition.
“Haisla has agreed to the project and they are building the plant on their reserve. If the First Nation has agreed to the project, that is something I will support,” Sayers said.
During her term as chief councillor of Hupacasath First Nation, Sayers helped bring the Upnit Power project to a reality. Built in partnership with Synex Energy and the City of Port Alberni, the run-of-river generating station produces up to six megawatts (mW) of green energy at peak capacity. Sayers said there are many First Nations involved in run-of-river projects that could potentially provide much of the new clean energy that will be required by the province. But not all green power is hydroelectric, she added.
“The Tseleil-Wautuh Nation, formerly the Burrard Indian Band, is manufacturing wind turbines. They have already installed a number of windmills,” Sayers said.
TNW Wind Turbines, owned by Tseleil-Wautuh, produces small wind turbines of five and 50 kilowatts (kW) for up to 20 homes, and a range of larger units of 100, 200 and 500 kW under their Community Wind Power division.
“It shows there are many different ways to get into energy industry,” Sayers said.
This month, Ehattesaht First Nation flipped the switch on its own 4.4 mW run-of-river generating station on Barr Creek, about 10 kilometres south of Zeballos.
“It’s running right now at 50 per cent capacity, at 2.2 mW,” Ehattesaht Councillor Ernie Smith said. “It’s still in the testing stage right now. It should be fully operational in the next few months.”
The project is 80 per cent owned by Synex Energy and 20 per cent by Ehattesaht First Nation, with a 40-year contract to sell energy to B.C. Hydro.
“By the year 25 to 30, we are going to own 100 per cent,” Smith said.
The Barr Creek station promises to generate significant revenue for Ehattesaht, but it is not the only energy contract the nation has an interest in.
“We also own two per cent of the Zeballos Lake Hydro partnership. We got involved with that about seven years ago,” Smith said.
The hydro complex houses three generators with a maximum output of 23 mW, fed by water from Zeballos Lake, which is a pretty unusual body of water, Smith said.
“The lake was formed by a landslide a little over a thousand years ago, and it has land-locked Dolly Varden trout,” he said.
“Barr Creek is a salmon-bearing stream in the lower reaches, but the run-of-river project is in the higher elevations and doesn’t interfere with any spawning.”
Smith said his nation received some funding assistance from both the federal and provincial governments to get the project off the ground.
Sayers said it has become advantageous for energy developers like Synex to bring First Nations on board as partners.
“Because of the requirement for consultation and accommodation for First Nations when you are planning a development in their traditional territory, if you already have that First Nation as a partner, you have already passed that first hurdle,” Sayers said.
That being said, however, your project is still required to meet all the environmental requirements.
Sayers pointed out that many environmentalists and First Nations frame some of those requirements under the heading of human rights, some of which now fall under the United Nations Charter.
“I tell every First Nation that I talk to that if you can work on a project that can ensure you can protect your environment and your way of life and your human rights–the right to clean water and the right to clean air–then go for it,” she said.
Sayers said her association has some misgivings with the provincial LNG strategy, which breaks away from the energy self-sufficiency policy established five years ago by then-Premier Gordon Campbell. Under Campbell’s vision, B.C. would become self-sufficient in electricity, even in a drought year, by 2016.
Recognizing the added demand of the new LNG plants, two of which could be up and running as early as 2015, the province has relaxed the self-sufficiency policy, so that it will only have to meet generating requirements during an average water year. In drought years, the province would purchase power from out-of-province.
“I am concerned about going to average water years,” Sayers said, noting that most of the electricity purchased on the open market comes from coal-fired generators south of the border.
“Electrical self-sufficiency is critical,” Sayers said. “I believe the B.C. government should re-evaluate this idea, especially in light of climate change.”
Sayers pointed out that changing weather patterns have already disrupted seasonal stream flows across the province, which makes planning for hydroelectric generating even more complicated.
“B.C. needs more power. There is a great need to increase our infrastructure,” Sayers said. “Our transmission lines and generators are old and need to be replaced.”
But while there are great challenges on the horizon, Sayers said there are also great opportunities for First Nations as the province works to create this new LNG industry and at the same time maintain our energy self-sufficiency.
