Pennask Wind Farm

Image Credit: Okanagan Wind

A pair of wind power projects between Kamloops and Merritt got the green light from BC Hydro recently, but regional leaders call the decision a lack of oversight.

The province announced it would no longer require wind power projects to go through environmental assessments, a decision aimed at speeding up approval times.

Newly-elected Conservative opposition MLA Ward Stamer said his phone was ringing non-stop after this week's announcement and called the move "totally irresponsible."

He was among several MLAs expressing their opinion at a Thompson Nicola Regional District board meeting this week.

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The region includes two of the four Southern Interior wind farm projects approved by the province and BC Hydro. That includes the Highland Valley and Mount Mabel wind projects, partnered with the Ashcroft Indian Band and Lower Nicola Indian Band, respectively. Both are being led by the company Capstone Infrastructure.

Those projects are also expected to produce 197 megawatts of power at Highland Valley and 143 megawatts at Mount Mabel, according to the province.

Two more will be closer to the Okanagan with the K2 Wind project poised to produce 160 megawatts and the Boulder-Elkhart wind project at 94 megawatts, both east off Aspen Grove just off the Okanagan Connector.

Regional district director Doug Haughton raised concern that the projects were going through without consultation with area residents by doing away with the environmental assessment process.

"We were just as shocked as you were when the last line in the announcement was to the effect that we were going to be not having any environmental assessments because we need to fight climate change," Stamer said.

Projects going through environmental assessments are typically listed on a provincial government website, but wind power projects will now skip that in favour of a permitting process.

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“It’s clear there are enormous opportunities to generate clean electricity through wind, and that we need to do more to get larger projects online faster,” Minister of Environment and Parks Tamara Davidson said in a news release. “That’s why we are announcing our intention to exempt wind-power projects from the environmental assessment process, with a rigorous provincial permitting process in place, while ensuring First Nations are full partners in our shared, sustainable future.”

Nine new wind projects were approved across the province, which are expected to generate up to $6 billion in private capital spending and nearly 5,000 gigawatt hours of electricity per year.

"We will certainly be not only formulating a policy through our party but we will also be responding in kind, supporting all our residents throughout all the ridings in British Columbia when it comes to any power generation or any projects of this size to make sure we are following the rules, we are taking time to consult and we are doing it properly," Stamer said.

The nine projects were approved following a BC Hydro call for power. The Crown agency "engaged extensively" with First Nations governments in preparing the call for power, which came to include a requirement that each project include a 25% equity stake for First Nations.

Eight of the nine approved will have a 51% ownership by First Nations.

“Now that the projects have been selected, we’re going to work together with BC Hydro, First Nations and proponents to get these projects built quickly, responsibly and efficiently, and get those turbines spinning," newly-appointed BC Energy Minister Adrian Dix said in a news release.

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