VANCOUVER, B.C. — The second of two reports written by Deloitte LLP for the BC Utilities Commission examining alternatives to the Site C dam appears to show that there are several alternatives that are cheaper, though no final recommendation is given.

In the report, Deloitte states that between 1964 and 2016, BC Hydro actually overestimated future electricity demand in B.C. 77 percent of the time. The rate of overestimating demand by BC Hydro has increased in the last ten years since the late-2000’s worldwide recession.

On average, Deloitte said that Hydro has forecast loads by 1.7 percent over a period of one year; by 4.5 percent over five years; by 12.2 percent over ten years; by 18 percent over fifteen years; and by 30.8 precent over twenty years.

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In the report, Deloitte also looked at various alternatives to Site C, including upgrading and retrofitting existing BC Hydro generating stations. According to statistics from BC Hydro’s own data, performing upgrades on 24 of BC Hydro’s facilities would add 1,123.2 megawatts of generating capacity, and would cost a total of $4.410 billion.

The report does not include BC Hydro’s recently announced intent to purchase two thirds of the Waneta Dam from Teck Resources for $1.2 billion. That purchase, which must also be approved by the BCUC, would see Hydro continue to sell electricity from Waneta for a fixed rate for a period of 20 years, with Tech getting an option to extend that by a further ten years. The Waneta Dam has a total generating capacity of 496 MW. BC Hydro purchased the first third of the dam from Teck in 2010 for $825 million.

Deloitte also compared the price of other forms of renewable and non-renewable forms of electricity generation, and its ability to serve as a constant or intermittent source of generation. In their comparison, Deloitte concluded that even other alternative forms of electricity generation such as Geothermal and Biomass cost $7,300 per kilowatt, less than Site C’s capital cost of $7,636 per kilowatt.

The full report from Deloitte can be found here: