Hey, Hosers, why is this such a secret, eh?

The whole reason we are going to pay more is bc hydro is obligated to pay these guys triple the price of the legacy projects for the first 5 years and then after that, they get to choose who they sell it to and at what price they sell it! We are giving away our most precious resource, water for nothing!!!

Coal plants never shut down, day or night.

Hoser,

What gives you faith that the Site C Dam and the various pipeline proposals are an alternate choice ?

What is stopping Site C, etc. from being pursued as a complement to current exploitation ?

"Folks really need to be careful on what they stand in the way of, because the alternatives may be much worse."
 Hoser

They only need more power so the can continue selling it!!

The Long Term Acquisition Plan (BC Hydro 2008a) was filed prior to the government’s announcement to reduce the availability of the Burrard thermal gas plant, and so the forgoing figures include the capacity of that generating plant. The total capacity associated with thermal and market purchases was 950 MW, of which Burrard plant capacity accounts for 900 MW – intended market purchases are quite small. Interestingly, the System Capacity Supply includes 656 MW of Electricity Purchase Agreements, excluding the Alcan LTEPA. However, “as of April 1, 2010, BC Hydro has 63 Electricity Purchase Agreements (EPAs) with IPPs whose projects are currently delivering power to BC Hydro. These projects represent 10,343 GWh of annual supply and 2,629 MW of capacity” (BC Hydro 2010a, p.1). Removing Alcan’s capacity from BC Hydro’s list of EPAs reduces total available IPP capacity to 1,733 MW, a figure substantially greater than the 656 MW enumerated in the System Capacity Supply table (BC Hydro 2008a, Table 6‐14)

On April 1, 2003, a number of back-office functions, representing approximately 1500 employees, became the responsibility of BC Hydro's joint venture partner, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia. These functions include Business Support Services, Customer Services, Human Resource Services, Building and Office Services, Payroll and Accounts Payable Services, Financial Systems Services and Purchasing Services.

Still, some numbers have been made public. A news release issued by BC Hydro on Feb 28, 2003, described it as "a ten year, $1.45 billion agreement designed to save BC Hydro customers $250 million and expand Accenture's ability to offer ... services to utilities across North America."

Upon closer examination, it is evident that the $1.45 billion BC Hydro contracted to pay Accenture was in real (that is, inflation-adjusted) dollars.

To determine how much Accenture -- actually, its subsidiary, Accenture Business Services (ABS), which was set up to handle the contract -- has been paid by BC Hydro (and affiliates) over the last six fiscal years, let us consult the Crown corporation's annual Financial Information Act filings. (BC Hydro's most-recent FIA filing is for fiscal 2008/09. The 2009/10 document, for the fiscal year that ended this past March 31, should be published later this summer.)

Between 2003/04 and 2008/09, BC Hydro directly paid ABS more than $1.09 billion. Over the same period, two Hydro subsidiaries, Powerex and BCH Services Asset Corp, were dinged for a further $6.4 million and $11.3 million respectively.

On top of that, BC Transmission Corporation (spun-out of Hydro in 2003, and soon to be re-integrated back into its former parent) paid ABS another $57.4 million.

The grand total paid by BC Hydro to Accenture Business Services in the first six years of the 10-year contract -- $1,168,441,001.

Two years and hundreds of millions short

This is a stunning figure, insofar as it means that British Columbians already (in just six years) have paid all but $281.6 million of the $1.45 billion contracted back in 2003 with Accenture Business Services. At this rate, Accenture will have received the entire $1.45 billion in about two months from today; that is, some time in early August.

By then, the 10-year contract still will have about two-and-a-half years to run. To stay on budget -- that is, to ensure British Columbians realize the promised savings of $250 million -- Accenture will have to provide outsourced services over that period without compensation.

How likely is that?