B.C.'s Site C dam to cost $16B, completion delayed to 2025

• British Columbia’s Site C hydroelectric dam has risen in cost by over $5 billion and been delayed by a year, bringing the price tag of the megaproject to $16 billion and stretching the completion date to 2025.

Premier John Horgan said Friday the project is halfway complete and the skyrocketing expenses and construction setbacks are due to geotechnical issues, COVID-19 and other cost and schedule pressures.

He told a news conference that the project was beset with challenges when it was started by the previous provincial government, but it must be completed for the power needs of future generations and to keep B.C.’s rates among the lowest in North America.

Horgan also said that cancelling the project now would mean laying off 4,500 workers and a sunk cost of $10 billion.

The province said that the average ratepayer would face a 26 per cent increase on their bills over the next 10 years if Site C was scrapped.

“I believe we’ve made the right decision,” Horgan said.

“We will not put the jobs at risk. We will not shock people’s hydro bills.”

The province said continuing with the project means the costs will be recovered through rates over the 70-year lifespan of the dam. After the project is operational, the average ratepayer will face about a three per cent increase above previous forecasts based on a $10.7-billion project cost.

It said that COVID-19 and geotechnical issues represent about half of the more than $5 billion in additional costs, but did not elaborate on the other factors or provide a detailed breakdown, citing commercial interests.

Horgan’s announcement comes weeks after a former deputy finance minister completed his report on the status of the northeastern B.C. dam and submitted the study for cabinet consideration.

The review was ordered last July after Crown-owned BC Hydro reported concerns about risks and delays, and the province says it has accepted all 17 of Peter Milburn’s recommendations, including a strengthened project assurance board.

The government also released a report by two independent experts that found changes to the foundation to address geotechnical issues on the project’s right bank will ensure Site C meets safety standards.

Horgan also announced new leadership at BC Hydro as Doug Allen — who has held top positions at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and TransLink, replaces Ken Peterson as chairman of the board.

The premier said in December 2017 that the NDP government would reluctantly support completion of the dam across the Peace River just west of Fort St. John, but he would never have started the project commissioned by the previous B.C. Liberal government.

At that time, the sunk cost would have been $4 billion.

Horgan said he understands that there are a significant number of B.C. residents who have never been supportive of the project and they are not going to be any happier today than they were in 2017.

“I don’t have the luxury of fretting over the past. I have an obligation to focus on the future,” he said Friday.