BC's Energy Advantage: Policy for a Competitive Future

British Columbia's clean hydroelectric system should be one of the province's greatest competitive advantages.

Reliable, low-emission electricity is increasingly becoming a deciding factor for companies investing in mines, LNG facilities, manufacturing plants, data centres, ports, hydrogen production, and other major industrial projects.

However, British Columbia is entering a period where demand for electricity is growing faster than available supply.

In recent years, BC Hydro has relied increasingly on electricity imports from the United States during periods when domestic generation has been insufficient to meet demand. While electricity trading has always been part of operating an integrated western grid and can provide economic benefits, recent years have seen British Columbia become a net importer of electricity as drought conditions, growing demand, and system constraints have reduced surplus generation.

This matters because provincial policy increasingly depends upon widespread electrification.

Government policy encourages households, businesses, and industry to replace natural gas and other fossil fuels with electricity for heating, transportation, industrial processes, and manufacturing.

Electrification can play an important role in reducing emissions. But it is only practical if sufficient electricity exists to replace the energy being phased out.

Today, many industrial proponents face uncertainty over whether electricity will be available when projects require it, whether transmission infrastructure can be built on schedule, and what future electricity costs will be over the life of multi-billion-dollar investments.

A successful electrification strategy requires more than ambitious targets. It requires generation, transmission, storage, and long-term planning that stay ahead of demand — not behind it.

British Columbia possesses one of North America's largest and lowest-cost natural gas resources.

Natural gas currently provides dependable, dispatchable energy for industries including mining, forestry, manufacturing, food processing, agriculture, cement production, LNG, and many commercial operations.

Competitive BC supports continued expansion of clean electricity.

However, replacing natural gas faster than new electricity supply can be developed creates significant economic risk.

If industrial customers cannot obtain sufficient electricity, they face three choices: delay investment; continue operating with uncertainty regarding future energy availability; or invest in another jurisdiction where both electricity and natural gas are readily available.

None of those outcomes improves British Columbia's competitiveness.

The province should pursue an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy. That means expanding electricity generation and transmission while continuing to recognize natural gas as an essential component of British Columbia's industrial energy system until reliable, affordable electrical alternatives are available at commercial scale.

Energy transitions succeed when replacement capacity is built before existing energy sources are constrained — not after.

For investors, energy reliability is just as important as energy affordability. The jurisdictions that will attract the next generation of industrial investment will be those capable of providing both.