Michelle Mungall, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, has released the following statement about the fire on the natural gas line on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018:

Today’s $40-billion investment by LNG Canada shows B.C.’s future can balance economic opportunity and job creation with forward-looking environmental action that meets the Province’s climate action goals, said Premier John Horgan.

The Province has awarded $120 million in royalty deductions for 20 new projects under the Infrastructure Royalty Credit Program (IRCP), and $19.3 million in royalty deductions for seven new projects under the Clean Infrastructure Royalty Credit Program (CIRCP).

BC Hydro has used regulatory accounts since the early 1990s. They are normally used to match costs with benefits to customers, capture differences between forecast and actual costs typically related to uncontrollable factors (e.g., variation in water inflows, storm restoration costs) and manage the impacts of accounting changes.

Negotiators representing the governments of Canada, including British Columbia, and the United States met in Nelson on Aug. 15-16, 2018, to continue discussions about the future of the Columbia River Treaty.

Last week’s Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) summit provided an opportunity for the provincial government to meet with United States legislators to discuss the future of the Columbia River Treaty.

Michelle Mungall, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, is due to have a baby in mid-July.

In recognition of the role agriculture plays in the Peace River region, and the potential effects of the Site C project on agriculture, BC Hydro has launched a $20-million fund to support agricultural production and related economic activity in the Peace Region.