By Cheryl Jahn

BC Conservatives urge Province to step up to help industries like Tidewater

Dec 9, 2024 | 3:23 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The $380-million Tidewater Renewables facility located adjacent to the former Husky Oil refinery celebrated its construction completion with a visit from Premier David Eby last June.

“With the support for more than 40 per cent of the project cost in the form of B.C. Low Carbon Fuel Standard compliance credits, this project will produce 170 million litres of renewable diesel each year, and that renewable diesel offers an 80 to 90 per cent reduction in carbon emissions compared to fossil fuel diesel. It will create good new jobs, cleaner air and boost the local economy.”

But those benefits he cited are in jeopardy because, in a nutshell, American bio-diesel producers are double dipping in credits. BC producers – Tidewater locally – have access to carbon credits through the e Low Carbon Fuels Act.

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“But what’s happening is down in the United States, they have a production credit,” explains John Rustad, Leader of the BC Conservatives. “So people are producing this in the United States, using a production credit to bring down their cost, then their ship heading up to British Columbia and qualifying for the carbon credit as well. And so that is taking the market share up and making it very difficult for Tidewater to operate.”

As such, Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Kiel Giddens has written up his own bill called the Low Carbon Fuel Standard Amendment Act. It tweaks three sections of the original act in order to sort of level the playing field.

“That’s what my private member’s bill aims to do, and that’s why it’s so important that employees be doing the work in the legislature right now,” he says. “The NDP has decided not to call the legislature back till February 18th.”

A portion of the amendment reads: “Where renewable diesel produced outside of British Columbia receives production credits, income tax credits, or any other form of subsidy from a government or organization, the total value of credits provided under the BC low carbon fuel standard as calculated in subsection (3) shall be reduced by an amount equivalent to the value of such external subsidies received”

“If we’re going to be putting something like this in, we should be protecting our local companies, know whether we should have this in place or not. It’s a different argument,” says Rustad. “But in the meantime, if it’s in place, we should make sure that we protect our our local companies. So that’s the change that we are going to be looking to do in the legislature.”

In the meantime, the CEO of Tidewater noted in its third-quarter results: “Tidewater Renewables has engaged external trade law counsel for the purposes of advising on and preparing a trade remedy complaint against renewable diesel imports from the U.S. that management believes are unfairly priced and having a significant negative impact on the competitiveness on domestic operations.”

“The company should use every tool in its toolbox, but one of the solutions can be done with legislative change here in British Columbia, and this is within the minister’s power to do this,” says Giddens.

There has been no response from calls to the Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions – Adrian Dix’s new ministry – on this issue.