Starting July 1, BC Hydro is changing the way that it pays for power generated from household solar power.
When the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) approved this change, Jeremy Valeriote MLA for West Vancouver, Sea to Sky with the BC Green Cacus found the news disappointing.
“[It] discourages people from taking charge of their own household energy independence, investing in clean energy, anything that tells people that that that isn’t a priority is not great. So, somebody’s made a bunch of decisions on the old net metering system. They’ve invested money in solar panels, which is what we want people to do is distributed energy.”
With this change, people who help the power grid with solar power will no longer be compensated the same way.
“Previously, if you had a solar panel or a series of solar panels on your house, you essentially got credit for any electricity you generated and that would offset anything you had to pay for. It’s a, it was a one to one, you put energy into the grid and BC Hydro gives you that much energy back when you need it,” explained Valeriote.
With the change, BC Hydro now pays less for the solar households generate, compared to the amount they bill for power households use.
“They’ve changed that now to setting the rate that they will pay people back at 10 cents and most people pay 12 to 14 cents or more for electricity.”
“That’s a problem for people who invested thinking they were going to continue with net metering, which was one to one electricity and gets you electricity out of the system.”
Valeriote is worried that the changes will deter people from switching to a cleaner energy source and installing solar panels on their homes.
“It’s a deterrent and it sends the message that we’re not, it’s not, it’s not as important as maybe it used to be to us. It’s not the right message for people who just want to take things into their own hands and do the right thing, generate their own electricity from the sun and be able to exchange it.”
Valeriote says this sends the wrong message to British Columbians, with the BC NDP government subsidizing LNG corporations and not rewarding those who invest their own money in clean energy.
“It’s more future looking and the grandfathering of people in for 10 years does help, but it’s still an overall message that [they’re] just inconsistent with. We need more electricity for sure. We need to electrify our economy, and we need to give people the power to do it themselves where, where they can and not rely on these mega projects.”
With the industrial rates for LNG, B.C. residents are paying quite a bit more for energy.
“Residents of BC are being charged 12 cents to 14 cents per kWh and industry like LNG is paying, five to six cents of an industrial rate. There’s a real subsidy there.”
Valeriote believes that the new deal between the BCUC and the provincial government needs to be rethought.
“It needs to be looked at in terms of not just the technical parts of what BC Hydro is, but the overall messaging of where we need to go on clean energy, where we need to go on climate.”
“I think they need to look at what the what the perception is more than just the economics of what makes BC Hydro makes the most sense for BC Hydro. It is a publicly owned company.”
British Columbians have a stake in BC Hydro so they should be consulted on what can keep their bills down and have incentives to generate their own electricity, says Valeriote.
“People want to act on climate, but it needs to be simple, it needs to be straightforward, and it needs to be constant and consistent, not changed from year to year.”
— With files from Sonia Aslam