{"id":58425,"date":"2025-08-10T04:58:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T04:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/58425\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T04:58:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T04:58:03","slug":"bc-hydro-says-site-c-dam-is-fully-operational-ahead-of-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/58425\/","title":{"rendered":"BC Hydro says Site C dam is fully operational ahead of schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

BC Hydro’s Site C dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River near Fort St. John can now power half a million homes a year.HO\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

B.C.\u2019s minister of energy and climate solutions Adrian Dix said Site C won\u2019t be the last major energy project in the province after becoming fully operational ahead of schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dam in northern B.C. is now able to generate 1,100 megawatts of electricity \u2013 enough to power half a million homes per year \u2013 after the sixth and final power-generating turbine came online. The first of the six turbines started to generate power in October 2024.<\/p>\n

BC Hydro\u2019s challenge: Powering province through surging demand, drought and trade war<\/a><\/p>\n

Dix said this development means that generations of British Columbians will benefit from reliable and affordable clean electricity, with more clean energy projects under way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to increase the energy we produce,\u201d he said, adding this new energy needs to be clean, so the province can meet its economic and environmental goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is a really important time, and Site C is a key part of that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In December 2024, BC Hydro awarded nine wind energy projects, following its first call for new power supply in 15 years. Last month, it launched another call for power, also with a focus on clean or renewable energy sources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dix said this decade will be as important in the history of developing clean energy as the 1960s were, when asked about the historic significance of Site C.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a final price tag of $16 billion, nearly double its initial price tag, the dam is considered B.C.\u2019s most expensive infrastructure project.<\/p>\n

Construction of the controversial dam started in July 2015 under former B.C. Liberal premier Christy Clark, and continued under late NDP premier John Horgan, following a review of the project\u2019s economics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dix acknowledged that Horgan was not in favour of the project, which also drew opposition from local residents and environmentalists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a critic of the project,\u201d Dix said. \u201cHe was looking at the contract. He\u2019d given a lot of thought to the project over a long period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

BC Hydro\u2019s Site C dam project on shaky ground<\/a><\/p>\n

Horgan announced in December 2017 that the project would continue. While Site C \u201cshould never have been started,\u201d cancellation would have added billions of dollars to the provincial debt, Horgan said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think ultimately that was the right decision,\u201d Dix said. \u201cYou have to look at things, and make the right decision for the public interest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charlotte Mitha, BC Hydro president and chief executive officer, said in a press release that Site C will serve customers for next 100 years and \u201cplay a critical role in ensuring a stable and reliable electricity system.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: BC Hydro’s Site C dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-58425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}