Merritt, BC: The Upper Nicola Band (UNB), the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA), the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council (NNTC) and BC Hydro announced an agreement August 26 related to the construction of BC Hydro’s Interior to Lower Mainland Transmission Project. The agreement provides access to land and resources in the Nations’ territories, funds, direct award contracts and cooperation on future energy opportunities for the project.
As part of the agreement, the parties have created a new approach to working together in the traditional territories of the NNTC and ONA member communities. BC Hydro and each Nation will work together to develop an integrated, multi-year plan regarding future energy projects and will work collaboratively to identify opportunities for positive outcomes for both BC Hydro operations and Indigenous communities. The NNTC, ONA and UNB have also agreed to halt litigation in relation to the project.
The announcement notes that over the next 20 years, the population of the Lower Mainland is expected to grow from 2.5 million to about 3.4 million, while BC’s demand is expected to grow by as much as 40% – the majority of it in the Lower Mainland. It calls the transmission circuits that bring power from where it is generated in the B.C. Interior to the Lower Mainland some of the most critical paths in BC Hydro’s transmission grid – a system that continues to operate reliably today, but one that is reaching its thermal limits and needs to be reinforced.
The Interior to Lower Mainland Transmission project includes construction of a new 500 kilovolt transmission line from the Nicola substation near Merritt to the Meridian substation in Coquitlam and a new capacitor station near Ruby Creek. The new line will be some 255 kilometres in length and will parallel an existing 500 kilovolt transmission line for the majority of the distance.
Approximately 74 km of the line will require new right-of-way, while approximately 60 km will require widening of the existing right-of-way. The estimated project cost of the Interior to Lower Mainland Transmission project is $725 million. BC Hydro is continuing to pursue an in-service date of fall 2014.