Is B.C.’s energy security at risk?

PRINCE GEORGE — Energy security is defined as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price, but is BC’s energy security at risk? BC has imported power when our grid has not been able to keep up, and the leader of the opposition says that BC needs to be self-sufficient.

“When we’ve got a fast growing population, when we have energy demands, not just in British Columbia, but right across North America, where different jurisdictions are going to increasingly be looking to where they’re going to get going to get their energy. And we want to make sure that B.C. is self-sufficient.” – Kevin Falcon, Leader of the Opposition, BC United Party

Barry Penner, the chair of the Energy Futures Initiative and former environment minister under BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell, says that a recent decision by the BC Utilities Commission to reject a natural gas pipeline upgrade to the Okanagan, is sending the wrong message and that there is concern about energy supply.