Labrador’s Muskrat Falls dam offers lessons for B.C. plans with Site C project, expert says

VANCOUVER A hydroelectric venture in central Labrador should serve as a cautionary tale for British Columbia and its own ambitions to build a multibillion-dollar dam in the province’s northeast, the former head of Newfoundland and Labrador’s public utilities regulator says.

David Vardy, a former economics professor and retired civil servant in that province, published a letter Tuesday addressed to the B.C. Utilities Commission containing more than a dozen recommendations based on lessons learned from Muskrat Falls. The utilities regulator was tasked earlier this month by B.C.’s NDP government to review the economic viability of Site C, an $8.8-billion energy project under construction on the Peace River.

“B.C. has the luxury of being able to stop this now without going any further,” Vardy said. “In terms of the take-away from Muskrat Falls: It’s not too late to stop it.”

Vardy’s letter outlined the similarities between the two provinces’ megaprojects: Both are backed by powerful Crown corporations, both were exempt from the usual regulatory oversight process, at least initially, and both have experienced ballooning costs over time.

The price tag for Muskrat Falls has more than doubled from original estimates, swelling to $12.7 billion in the province of only about 525,000 people. Vardy said the project’s cost of about $24,000 per person would double the province’s per capita net debt and pose a major threat to its solvency.

Vardy encouraged British Columbia’s Utilities Commission to ensure Site C is built according to current energy needs and is made as adaptable as possible, warning that the rapid pace of technological advances could make the project obsolete before long. He emphasized the importance of independent public oversight and a rigorous public review process, lauding the analysis being conducted by the utilities commission. The review began Aug. 9, with interim findings due six weeks later and a final report expected by Nov. 1.

The commission’s review process in B.C. was once standard before the previous Liberal government’s clean-energy laws permitted some projects, including Site C, to circumvent the regulatory process.