Common Questions

All of the power from the Ashlu Creek Green Power Project will be sold to BC Hydro under a long-term (20 year) contract. This was the longest term contract available by BC Hydro in 2003 when it awarded contracts to its selected, green energy projects. The electricity generated from the Ashlu Creek project will be consumed in the Sea to Sky corridor and in Greater Vancouver.

The amount of electricity generated from Ashlu Creek, like many other renewable energy based projects, is totally dependent on the weather and therefore is not considered by BC Hydro or any other US-based utility to be "firm" electricity. Any US-based utility that wants to buy electricity from BC wants to have a guaranteed committment that the imported electricity will be firm and dependable. Since BC Hydro can store water and generate firm electricity, it can export electricity to the US. However, a renewable energy project like Ashlu Creek cannot generate firm electricity and therefore cannot export electricity to the US. Only BC Hydro, through its 100% owned power export company Powerex, can export and sell electricity to the US.

Letters to the editor in the local newspaper have falsely claimed that Ledcor is the largest donor to the BC Liberal Party and have received support for this project because of that.

All BC political donations are reported and are available online on the BC elections website.

The largest donor to the BC Liberal Party is Teck/Cominco, who have donated over $750,000 in the last decade. Ledcor has donated an average of about $2000 - $3000 per year over the last four years, ranking as only an average business donor. This information has been verified by The Dogwood Initiative, (www.dogwoodinitiative.org ), an independent and non-partisan organization which keeps a data base on all British Columbia election donations.

Projects over 50 megawatts (MW) are reviewed under the BC Environmental Assessment Office, rather than by the Land and Water BC office, but for all intents and purposes, the regulatory agencies and their people who do the reviews are the same people and departments, no matter what the size of the power project. The same regulatory review agencies are required to assess the project whether the project size is greater or less than 50MW (i.e. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Coast Guard, Ministry of Environment, etc. still review the project no matter what the size of the project or which lead office is sending them the project information).

The primary reason for keeping the project under 50MW is due to accounting practices. Specifically, a project under 50MW can be depreciated faster than a project that is over 50 MW. This is the case for any and all renewable energy projects located anywhere in Canada. In addition, by designing the project to 49MW, half of the flow will remain in Ashlu Creek in the diversion area so that recreational users can use the stream during the high flow summer months. The project size of 49MW has nothing to do with avoiding any type of environmental assessment since a full environmental assessment was carried out under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

The type of hydroelectric project that is commonly used today in British Columbia is the run-of-river project. It is deemed as a significant contributor to green power because it requires little or no storage to generate the electricity that is needed. Unlike large hydro projects that have been built traditionally in B.C., no large dam, reservoir or flooding will result from the Ashlu project. The energy produced will come from the naturally flowing mountain waters.

Continue reading “What is a Run-of-River Project?”

The following are questions we hear most often about the Ashlu Creek Green Power Project. We provide the most straightforward answers that we can. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.

Continue reading “Straight Answers on common questions about the Ashlu Green Power Project”

The following is a detailed response to questions from the Upper Squamish Valley Citizen's Group.

Continue reading “Detailed Response to USVCG”

BC Hydro has just released a list of all of the IPP submissions to it's 2006 call for proposals. Of the 53 projects submitted, only two appear to be within the SLRD, namely near Squamish, on Raffuse Creek and (likely) Fries Creek.

More details available at BC Hydro's website:
http://www.bchydro.com/info/ipp/ipp44115.html

No. There is evidence that wildlife will continue to inhabit the affected watershed. See the following photos of a similar development at Rutherford Creek.

Continue reading “Will this project deter local wildlife?”

Download these printable PDF pages that cover some of the common questions about the project.

Continue reading “Printable Questions and Answers Sheets”