Facts:

The project:

• Site C will be the third dam and hydroelectric generating station on Peace River in northeast B.C., about seven kilometres southwest of Fort St. John.
• Construction of the project started in summer 2015, and will be completed in 2024.
• Site C will provide 1,100 megawatts of dependable capacity and will generate about 5,100 gigawatt hours of energy each year – enough to power the equivalent of 450,000 homes per year.
• As the third project on one river system, Site C will use water already stored behind the existing W.A.C. Bennett Dam in the Williston Reservoir to generate about 35% of the Bennett Dam’s energy, with only 5% of the reservoir area.
• Once built, Site C will be a source of clean, reliable and affordable electricity in B.C. for more than 100 years.

2017 Review:

• In August 2017, two years after the start of construction, government referred the Site C project to the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) for review.
• The terms of reference for the review directed the BCUC to provide advice on implications for ratepayers of proceeding with the project, suspending the project while maintaining the option to resume construction, or terminating the project.
• The BCUC delivered its final report on Site C to government on Nov. 1, 2017.
• In its report, the BCUC estimated that BC Hydro would need to spend an additional $1.8 billion for termination and site remediation costs if it were to cancel the project, in addition to the $2.1 billion of sunk construction and planning costs already spent.
• Analysis of the BCUC report conducted by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and external experts concluded that completing the project will be significantly less costly to British Columbians than cancelling the project.
• On Dec. 11, 2017, government announced its decision to complete construction of Site C, explaining that doing otherwise would put British Columbians on the hook for an immediate and unavoidable $4-billion bill — with nothing in return — resulting in rate hikes or reduced funds for schools, hospitals and important infrastructure.