By Adam Berls

leaked memo

Leaked memo from Energy Minister makes reference to project in PG

Nov 28, 2023 | 1:42 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — A provincial cabinet minister has been in hot water recently after a memo containing notes for herself ended up in the hands of the opposition BC United Party, and the notes have ties to a project here in Prince George.

The memo is written by the Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Josie Osborne, and was emailed to herself, which contained notes about a “big and shiny” affordability measure for the next budget, including using carbon tax revenues to freeze BC Hydro rates for British Columbians.

The memo also contains discussion of giving the provincial government leverage with companies like Fortescue Future Industries, who has proposed the construction of a large-scale green hydrogen and ammonia production facility here in Prince George. Fortescue is currently awaiting environmental approval for the facility.

The memo reads, in reference to companies like Fortescue, that they’ll either pay BC Hydro $1 billion dollars under an existing tariff OR agree to scale down the size of their project, prioritize hydrogen for domestic supply and build some of their own wind turbines to power the project. The tariff refers to B.C. Hydro’s fee for major new industrial projects to tap into its power grid, but the memo says there is “legal uncertainty” and it would make most projects uneconomic to proceed.

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“Fortescue is actually right now going through an environmental assessment process as a regulatory process in good faith with this company, who I would say is a partner in British Columbia. Is this a good message to be sending out to other companies? They’re looking to invest in B.C. when government is using a big stick and using billion dollar tariffs to downs to force them to downsize their projects just so that they can meet their own energy demands, the province. I would say not.” – Tom Shypitka, Shadow Minister for Mines and Low Carbon Innovation (BCU)

The Premier said that they want the jobs that Fortescue will provide, but doesn’t want higher Hydro costs for taxpayers.

“[Fortescue] needs 1000 megawatts of electricity for the project that [they] have proposed, and that is massive. And so the challenge for us is we want those jobs. We want this plant and we’re entering into discussions and negotiations with Fortescue. How do we seize this economic opportunity without making British Columbians pay higher rates on their hydro bills for that for that opportunity to be delivered.” – Premier David Eby, Province of British Columbia

Notes in the memo also proposed giving “the government the authority to waive or reduce
costs if [a] project agrees to certain conditions.” The Premier said that they are looking for ways to meet demand from companies that want to decarbonize by using electricity, through negotiations with companies.

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Twitter: @AdamBerls

Email: Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com