B.C. Is About to Go Big on Energy

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• Introduction
• This is one of the biggest energy build-outs B.C. has seen in decades
• So where does solar fit into all of this?
• We're going to need a lot more electricity
• This isn't about replacing hydro
• And there's another big part of this story
• What does this mean for the average homeowner?
• Conclusion

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Introduction

If you live in B.C., you may not realize just how much is changing in our energy system right now.

For a long time, we’ve been pretty spoiled here. We have a huge amount of hydroelectric power, so electricity has generally been reliable and relatively inexpensive compared with many other places.

But things are changing.

We are using more electricity than we used to, and we're going to need a lot more of it in the years ahead.

Electric vehicles, electric heating, new homes, businesses, industry and everything else we're electrifying are all adding to the demand.

So BC Hydro is getting ready.

And it's a pretty big deal.

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This is one of the biggest energy build-outs B.C. has seen in decades

BC Hydro and the province are calling this the biggest build-out of the BC Hydro system since the 1960s and 1970s.

Think about that for a minute.

We're talking about rebuilding and expanding the way we produce and deliver electricity in B.C. on a scale we haven't seen for a very long time.

And a big part of that is renewable energy.

In the first major call for new power, BC Hydro selected 10 new wind and solar projects.

Those projects are expected to produce enough electricity to power about 500,000 homes and bring as much as $6 billion in private investment into the province.

And they aren't stopping there.

Another four wind projects have now been selected, bringing the total new clean electricity from these two rounds of projects to about 8,500 gigawatt-hours per year.

That's enough electricity to power roughly 850,000 homes.

That's a lot of new electricity.

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So where does solar fit into all of this?

Well, that's the part that interests me.

When most people hear about B.C.'s energy expansion, they probably picture huge wind farms and hydroelectric dams., and yes, those are going to be a big part of it.

But I think we also need to look at what this means for solar and batteries at the smaller end of the scale. Because not everything has to be a huge power project. We are going to see more solar on homes.

More solar on businesses.

More batteries.

More people looking at ways to produce some of their own electricity instead of buying all of it from the grid. And we're going to see more people thinking about their electricity in a completely different way.

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We're going to need a lot more electricity

BC Hydro expects electricity demand in B.C. to increase by about 20% by 2030. That's not very far away. And when you start thinking about everything we're switching over to electricity, it makes sense.

Your car might be electric.

Your neighbour's car might be electric.

More homes are using heat pumps.

Businesses are adding more electrical equipment.

New industries need huge amounts of power.

Even things we don't think about every day are adding to the load on the electrical system. So we're going to need more electricity. And we're going to need it from a lot of different sources.

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This isn't about replacing hydro

Solar is not ever going to replace B.C.'s hydroelectric system. And it doesn't have to. That's not really the point. B.C. has an incredible hydroelectric resource, and that gives us something that many other places don't have.

We can add wind.

We can add solar.

We can add batteries.

And we can use our existing hydro system to help balance everything out. That's actually one of the things that makes B.C. such an interesting place for renewable energy. We're not starting from scratch. We're building on something we've already spent decades developing.

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And there's another big part of this story

The investment isn't just coming from the government. Private companies are putting billions of dollars into these projects. And First Nations are becoming major owners and partners in these new energy projects.

In fact, the new projects selected in the latest round will have 51% First Nations ownership, representing more than $2 billion in ownership.

That's a pretty significant change from the way major energy projects have traditionally been developed

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What does this mean for the average homeowner?

This is the part I think is going to get really interesting. For years, I've talked to people who want solar because they want to save money on electricity. But increasingly, I'm hearing another reason:

"I want to have more control over my energy."

And I think that is going to become more important. Solar panels can produce some of your own electricity. Batteries can store it. And the grid can still be there when you need it.

Instead of thinking of your home as simply something that uses electricity, you can start thinking of it as something that can also produce and store electricity.

That's a pretty big change. The same thing applies to businesses, farms, cabins, recreational properties, boats and all kinds of other places. Some people will want to stay connected to the grid.

Some will want backup power.

Some will want to reduce their electricity bills.

And some people, especially those living in remote areas, will want to produce almost all of their own power. There's no single answer. That's what I like about solar.

You can build a system around what you actually need.

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Conclusion

I've been working with solar and off-grid energy for a long time, and I've watched the technology change dramatically. Solar panels are better. Batteries are better. Inverters are better.

And the cost of storing electricity has come down dramatically compared with where we were years ago, but what's really changing now is the reason people are interested in energy. It's not just about saving a few dollars on the power bill anymore. It's about energy security. It's about having options. It's about being able to produce your own electricity. And it's about being prepared for a future where we're going to use a whole lot more electricity than we do today.

B.C. is making a huge investment in its energy future.

We're talking about billions of dollars, new wind and solar projects, upgrades to our hydro system and a major expansion of the electrical grid.

And I think that's good news for people like me who have been working in solar for years.

Because the energy world is changing, and we're only getting started.

If you're wondering what all of this could mean for your home, your business or your property, that's exactly the kind of thing I like helping people figure out.

You don't necessarily need to go completely off-grid.

You don't necessarily need a giant solar system.

Sometimes it's simply about figuring out what makes sense for you.

That's what energy planning is all about.

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