TAKE a deep breath. Your hydro rates are going up. That was the word from Energy Minister Bill Bennett this week, citing years of infrastructure investment coupled with relatively small increases brought on by his government in previous years.
But the increase in rates is a small annoyance when compared with the jolt we got from some of the other revelations about Hydro this week - pun fully intended.
An internal audit of the Crown corporation found it was completely unprepared to deal with a natural disaster. Portions of the province would be left in the cold and dark for months if they were to be hit by a catastrophic event like the earthquake our scientists always remind us is coming.
Perhaps the impending price hike wouldn't be so bad if we knew it was going to pay for a system that will be there for us when we need it.
Or perhaps it would go down easier if we knew ongoing infrastructure projects like Northwest Transmission Line were going to be completed reasonably close to its $404-million budget, and not the $736 million it is projected at this week.
This while government is ready to open its wallet for the Site C dam project, which is projected at $8 billion, and we still don't know the real long-term cost of the dozens of independent power projects Hydro has signed contracts with.
So, raise the rates if it will keep the juice flowing, but BC Hydro badly needs to get its house in order if we don't want to go back to burning whale oil for warmth and light.
