Little Hawk
Active Member
First of 2 good ones from Rafe and his ongoing battle with the Campbell government and their 'Run-of-River' scam.
The more I learn about this charade, the bigger and darker the cloud becomes...
RAFE HERE. BRACE YOURSELVES FOR I'M SENDING YOU TWO ARTICLES OF IMMENSE IMPORTANCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CAMPBELL'S ENERGY PLAN. FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE I HAVE PRINTED THEM OUT IN FULL
YOU WILL SEE THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME THE "C" WORD IS USED.
THESE ARE THE PRECISE POINTS I HAVE BEEN MAKING IN SPEECHES AROUND THE PROVINCE
PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT PAPER AND PASS IT ON TO YOUR ADDRESS BOOK ASKING THEM TO DO THE SAME.
Article #1 from Doug McArthur is Professor and Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy in the Graduate Program in Public Policy at Simon Fraser University. Prior to that he was Senior Fellow and Special Assistant to the President at the University of British Columbia.
The word corruption is one not normally given much credence as an explanation of government behavior in Canada. I have of late written much about the pervasive corruption of the Karzai government in Afghanistan. Now an essay by a reputable economist and analyst has raised the spectre of corruption in the recent behavior of the BC Liberals in setting hydro electricity policy. (See Marvin Shaffer at http://www.policynote.ca/2009/11/03/you-dont-have-to-sell-bc-hydro-to-give-it-away/ ).
This is not to be taken lightly. Shaffer is a careful, thorough researcher highly regarded by experts in the field, including the BC Utilities Commission. There are some extremely sophisticated ways governments can use today to pay off those who have provided support and money to the party in power. Shaffer knows how the hydro power system works. He makes a pretty convincing case that only corruption offers a meaningful explanation of what is happening, or at a minimum that that is where we should look if we are serious about getting an answer.
The government had just announced three highly important moves around hydro power. First it has gotten rid of the top manager at BC Hydro. It is no secret that he and the senior executives of Hydro BC are deeply disturbed by government directives that run contrary to the interests of Hydro and BC citizens. Clearly it was untenable for him to continue in the face of gross government malfeasance.
Second the government has directed that the large, cheap, efficient and clean burning Burrard Thermal generating plant be taken out of the base generating capacity of BC Hydro. This means that Hydro can no longer plan its power development with the Burrard plant as part of its continuing base supply. Because by law, Hydro must have the capacity to supply BC on a continuing basis, Hydro must now find a large new replacement source of power generation. Where is that to come from? The government has directed that Hydro must obtain any new supplies of power from private power producers, therefore, it will come from investors in private power. It is well known that these investors are supporters and close friends of the Liberal Government. It is now clear that they will all at government direction be paid a much higher price than the cost of producing it at Burrard Thermal. BC Hydro eats the loss and power customers must make up the difference in increased power rates. These are the same power producers who helped organize for the Liberals in the last election campaign and who contributed large amounts of money to the campaign. The power deal is the same as a direct transfer of taxpayer money to corporate coffers. If not corrupt, what?
The Government claims that the Burrard power station adds to greenhouse gases. That is a lie, although a somewhat complicated one, as all good lies are. Burrard Thermal uses natural gas, which is one of the cleanest energy sources available. It is very cheap and efficient. True, gas supplies will decline in supply in the future, and so there is an argument for conserving it, but the government will not conserve the gas not burned at Burrard. It will sell it to be burned elsewhere. It aggressively markets BC natural gas in unlimited quantities for shipment to the US and elsewhere, where it is burned. It has no intention of curtailing the overall burning of BC gas to help global warming. Every unit of BC gas not burned at Burrard will be sold cheap to other markets to be burned, with an equal or greater impact on total green house gases. As I explain below, much of it will be sold back to BC in the form of externally generated electricity at much higher gas equivalent prices in the late fall and winter. The claimed benefit in reducing global warming is another of the lies this government has become practiced at telling as a matter or course.
As I said, replacement power capacity will have to be found for Burrard by law. Who in the main will this come from? Surprise, surprise largely from private hydro producers, as set out in the third government directive just issued. Not surprisingly, however this is not quite as the government claims either. Private hydro produces most of its power in the spring and summer when BC already has a surplus of power from Hydro's already established large Hydro plants. It doesn't need more power in the spring and summer when the run off is high. But the government is making Hydro buy the power from these producers at inflated prices, even though it will have to turn around and sell it into export markets at much lower spring and summer market prices. Then, in the winter, BC Hydro will have to buy very expensive power from producers in the US. The private hydro producers will make a lot of money, Hydro will lose huge amounts of money on the whole complicated deal, and BC Hydro customers will make up the difference in higher rates. Thus it is that the Liberal Government rewards its supporters with our money. Make sense? Frankly, only if that is its purpose.
Does that sound like corruption to you? The government explanations just don't add up when subject to scrutiny. If this was happening in India or Pakistan we would call it corrupt. Let's be honest with ourselves. Probable corruption should be named and exposed wherever it appears.
It is a puzzle as to why this has not been exposed in higher profile media sources. Perhaps the government has made it sufficiently complicated that it is very hard for the general journalist to understand. Cut backs in the media have meant that the experts in fields like energy are no longer around. Still, one would hope that the general outlines of what is happening would be enough to cause journalistic outrage.
Or maybe it points to the failure of the professional training of journalists. Perhaps it is time for the return of the muckrackers. That may be the only way the government will be called to account and the truth will be out
The more I learn about this charade, the bigger and darker the cloud becomes...
RAFE HERE. BRACE YOURSELVES FOR I'M SENDING YOU TWO ARTICLES OF IMMENSE IMPORTANCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CAMPBELL'S ENERGY PLAN. FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE I HAVE PRINTED THEM OUT IN FULL
YOU WILL SEE THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME THE "C" WORD IS USED.
THESE ARE THE PRECISE POINTS I HAVE BEEN MAKING IN SPEECHES AROUND THE PROVINCE
PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT PAPER AND PASS IT ON TO YOUR ADDRESS BOOK ASKING THEM TO DO THE SAME.
Article #1 from Doug McArthur is Professor and Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy in the Graduate Program in Public Policy at Simon Fraser University. Prior to that he was Senior Fellow and Special Assistant to the President at the University of British Columbia.
The word corruption is one not normally given much credence as an explanation of government behavior in Canada. I have of late written much about the pervasive corruption of the Karzai government in Afghanistan. Now an essay by a reputable economist and analyst has raised the spectre of corruption in the recent behavior of the BC Liberals in setting hydro electricity policy. (See Marvin Shaffer at http://www.policynote.ca/2009/11/03/you-dont-have-to-sell-bc-hydro-to-give-it-away/ ).
This is not to be taken lightly. Shaffer is a careful, thorough researcher highly regarded by experts in the field, including the BC Utilities Commission. There are some extremely sophisticated ways governments can use today to pay off those who have provided support and money to the party in power. Shaffer knows how the hydro power system works. He makes a pretty convincing case that only corruption offers a meaningful explanation of what is happening, or at a minimum that that is where we should look if we are serious about getting an answer.
The government had just announced three highly important moves around hydro power. First it has gotten rid of the top manager at BC Hydro. It is no secret that he and the senior executives of Hydro BC are deeply disturbed by government directives that run contrary to the interests of Hydro and BC citizens. Clearly it was untenable for him to continue in the face of gross government malfeasance.
Second the government has directed that the large, cheap, efficient and clean burning Burrard Thermal generating plant be taken out of the base generating capacity of BC Hydro. This means that Hydro can no longer plan its power development with the Burrard plant as part of its continuing base supply. Because by law, Hydro must have the capacity to supply BC on a continuing basis, Hydro must now find a large new replacement source of power generation. Where is that to come from? The government has directed that Hydro must obtain any new supplies of power from private power producers, therefore, it will come from investors in private power. It is well known that these investors are supporters and close friends of the Liberal Government. It is now clear that they will all at government direction be paid a much higher price than the cost of producing it at Burrard Thermal. BC Hydro eats the loss and power customers must make up the difference in increased power rates. These are the same power producers who helped organize for the Liberals in the last election campaign and who contributed large amounts of money to the campaign. The power deal is the same as a direct transfer of taxpayer money to corporate coffers. If not corrupt, what?
The Government claims that the Burrard power station adds to greenhouse gases. That is a lie, although a somewhat complicated one, as all good lies are. Burrard Thermal uses natural gas, which is one of the cleanest energy sources available. It is very cheap and efficient. True, gas supplies will decline in supply in the future, and so there is an argument for conserving it, but the government will not conserve the gas not burned at Burrard. It will sell it to be burned elsewhere. It aggressively markets BC natural gas in unlimited quantities for shipment to the US and elsewhere, where it is burned. It has no intention of curtailing the overall burning of BC gas to help global warming. Every unit of BC gas not burned at Burrard will be sold cheap to other markets to be burned, with an equal or greater impact on total green house gases. As I explain below, much of it will be sold back to BC in the form of externally generated electricity at much higher gas equivalent prices in the late fall and winter. The claimed benefit in reducing global warming is another of the lies this government has become practiced at telling as a matter or course.
As I said, replacement power capacity will have to be found for Burrard by law. Who in the main will this come from? Surprise, surprise largely from private hydro producers, as set out in the third government directive just issued. Not surprisingly, however this is not quite as the government claims either. Private hydro produces most of its power in the spring and summer when BC already has a surplus of power from Hydro's already established large Hydro plants. It doesn't need more power in the spring and summer when the run off is high. But the government is making Hydro buy the power from these producers at inflated prices, even though it will have to turn around and sell it into export markets at much lower spring and summer market prices. Then, in the winter, BC Hydro will have to buy very expensive power from producers in the US. The private hydro producers will make a lot of money, Hydro will lose huge amounts of money on the whole complicated deal, and BC Hydro customers will make up the difference in higher rates. Thus it is that the Liberal Government rewards its supporters with our money. Make sense? Frankly, only if that is its purpose.
Does that sound like corruption to you? The government explanations just don't add up when subject to scrutiny. If this was happening in India or Pakistan we would call it corrupt. Let's be honest with ourselves. Probable corruption should be named and exposed wherever it appears.
It is a puzzle as to why this has not been exposed in higher profile media sources. Perhaps the government has made it sufficiently complicated that it is very hard for the general journalist to understand. Cut backs in the media have meant that the experts in fields like energy are no longer around. Still, one would hope that the general outlines of what is happening would be enough to cause journalistic outrage.
Or maybe it points to the failure of the professional training of journalists. Perhaps it is time for the return of the muckrackers. That may be the only way the government will be called to account and the truth will be out
