Member Article

In his September address to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the Premier announced that the Western Climate Initiative is working collaboratively to develop a cap and trade system by next August. British Columbia will also require hard caps on GHG emissions from all heavy emitters in B.C. All ministries and Crown agencies will be legally required to be carbon neutral by 2010 – “no ifs, ands or buts”. Local governments will not be included in the legislation, but are encouraged to become carbon neutral by 2012. New legislation will also prohibit coal fired electricity projects without 100 percent carbon sequestration, and all electricity produced will be required to have net zero GHG emissions by 2016.

Lastly, but far from least, the Premier announced the government will direct BC Hydro to fully implement a “smart” metering initiative by 2012. All of BC Hydro’s 1.7 million residential and commercial electro mechanical meters are to be replaced by new meters that record  consumption by the hour, enabling time of use rates, and display the energy consumption level inside the home or business. The in-home display will allow the consumer to see and react to price signals.

There is apparently much more to come in the coming months. Next up, perhaps, is the introduction of legislation this fall session to mandate the aggressive GHG reductions by 2020.