There is significant opportunity for the growth and diversification of British Columbia’s economy through private sector investment in mining and critical minerals, LNG, manufacturing and technology projects. Much of the opportunity for the growth of the mining and LNG sectors is situated in the North Coast region of the province. Demand for electricity to unlock investments in these projects exceeds the capacity of the existing 500-kilovolt transmission line serving the region, which runs approximately 450 kilometres from Prince George to Terrace. New transmission infrastructure is required to unlock new, clean economic growth.

The North Coast Transmission Line (NCTL) project will twin the existing line to more than double the electricity capacity in the region and expand electricity access north of Terrace for major mining projects.

The NCTL is being developed in three phases:

• Phase 1 will run from Prince George to Fraser Lake (about 164 kilometres).
• Phase 2 will run from Fraser Lake to Terrace (about 275 kilometres).
• Phase 3 includes new transmission infrastructure north of Terrace to Aiyanish and Bob Quinn Lake (about 350 kilometres). Planning is underway for additional improvements to connect customers located beyond Terrace.

The NCTL is a nation-building opportunity for B.C. and Canada that will unleash the economic potential of the North Coast and develop critical mines, port expansions and LNG and resource development, powering growing communities. The project will enable the generation of thousands of good-paying jobs, billions of dollars in private investment and historic First Nations partnerships, while enabling the avoidance of significant greenhouse-gas emissions.

Industries seeking to build or expand operations in the North Coast using clean electricity from the NCTL require certainty about the timelines to build the line and the cost of connections.

Getting it built

To streamline the approvals and permitting process and accelerate the development and construction of the NCTL, the Province passed the Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act in spring 2025. The Act simplifies the decision-making process for renewable energy projects and transmission lines by eliminating the need for cross-ministry and agency permitting. The Act delegates authority to the B.C. energy regulator to lead permitting and authorizations related to the NCTL and provide regulatory oversite of the construction and operation of the project.

The need for the NCTL project was firmly established in 2023 when a BC Hydro expression-of-interest process to assess customer interest and electricity requirements in the northwest resulted in submissions from a range of industries identifying approximately 5,000 megawatts of potential industrial load (about five times the capacity of the Site C hydroelectric project).

Based on this clear demonstration of need, the Province will exempt BC Hydro from the requirement to obtain a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC). A CPCN is a determination that a proposed project is needed and in the public interest and is required for projects over $250 million. The preparation of a CPCN application and ensuing regulatory proceeding would take approximately 12-18 months, resulting in delays to the start of NCTL construction and increasing investment uncertainty for important industrial projects that will drive new jobs and economic growth at a critical time for the province.

Advancing historic First Nations partnerships

The transmission line provides the opportunity to expand First Nations ownership and economic development opportunities in the clean energy sector.

Since early 2023, the Province and BC Hydro have been discussing potential co-ownership arrangements with First Nations for the NCTL.

In July 2025, six First Nations including Hereditary leaders of the Wet’suwet’en, along with the Province and BC Hydro signed term-sheet agreements for Phase 2 of the line. The term sheets lay the groundwork for comprehensive legal partnerships providing First Nations the opportunity to earn returns on their investment over the economic life of the project. Negotiations continue with First Nations along Phase 1 of the proposed route to finalize similar agreements.

Shared ownership of a major transmission line is a new opportunity in B.C. that is not covered by existing legislation and regulations governing BC Hydro.

The energy statutes amendment act will amend the Hydro and Power Authority Act to clarify the capacity of BC Hydro to enter into co-ownership arrangements for transmission infrastructure and enable BC Hydro to enter into partnership agreements with First Nations to develop and build the NCTL together.

As BC Hydro will operate and maintain the line, the Province is also developing regulations that will exempt First Nations partnerships (for the NCTL) from regulation as public utilities by the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC). BC Hydro is already a regulated public utility and would continue to perform this function as co-owner and operator of the infrastructure.

Reducing financial barriers for industry

To support positive final investment decisions from industries interested in connecting to the line, it is essential that the Province address existing BC Hydro tariffs (interconnection charges) for large, energy-intensive projects.

Under BC Hydro’s current industrial tariff:

• financial security for the entire NCTL may only be collected from a single customer that is first in the interconnection queue; and,
• industrial customers requiring more than 150 megawatts of electricity are assigned the full cost of both incremental electricity generation and upgrades to BC Hydro’s bulk (500 kV) transmission infrastructure.

These upfront costs for large industrial projects, which can total billions of dollars, would make projects financially unviable for industrial customers looking to power their operations with clean electricity.

Without changes to the tariff, critical-mineral mining and First Nations-owned LNG projects in the north simply won’t move forward. That would mean walking away from thousands of good-paying jobs and billions of dollars in private investment.

To address these barriers, the Province will develop regulations setting a new BC Hydro electricity tariff for NCTL industrial customers that:

• brings investment certainty to potential large connections to the line; and,
• allows security to be collected from multiple customers seeking electricity service from the NCTL, instead of just the first connecting customer.

Industries connecting to the NCTL will still be required to:

• provide financial security to connect to the NCTL;
• pay standard industrial electricity rates; and,
• pay for lines from their projects to BC Hydro’s interconnection point on the NCTL.

Everyone in British Columbia will benefit from the economic, social and climate-action benefits flowing to the province from the electrification of large natural resource projects in the Northwest, including new jobs, increased tax revenue and royalties, and reduced carbon emissions.

Economic growth and electrification are driving an unprecedented volume of requests to BC Hydro for electricity service from mining, upstream natural gas and LNG sectors, and from emerging energy-intensive industries including artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres. BC Hydro currently has industrial projects in its connection queue for almost 6,800 megawatts (MW), more than six times the total capacity of the Site C hydroelectric project.

Under its existing interconnection policy, BC Hydro is obligated to provide electricity service to potential customers on a first-come, first-served basis, without consideration of what the end use of the power or resultant economic benefit will be. This policy did not contemplate the speed of innovation in the tech sector or emerging energy resources, such as hydrogen production. The rapid scalability of these industries in an electricity system with limited resources requires government intervention and action.

There is a need for the Province to modernize BC Hydro’s interconnection process to prioritize industries such as the natural-resource sector that have long been the backbone of B.C.’s economy and that contribute meaningfully to jobs, long-term economic development and public revenues, while also supporting the expansion of new and emerging industries.

Maximizing the benefits for British Columbia

The energy statutes amendment act, if passed, will amend the Utilities Commission Act and enable government to make regulations to establish a new B.C. electricity allocation framework for industry that:

• prioritizes electricity connections for natural-resource projects that provide the most benefits to people in B.C.; and,
• puts limits on the power available for data centres and AI, and enables hydrogen production for export in a paced way, prioritizing the most beneficial of such projects.

Building out the natural resource sector

The new framework will not impact electricity service or the BC Hydro interconnection process for natural-resource projects, including mining and critical minerals, oil and gas, LNG, manufacturing, forestry and hydrogen for domestic consumption.

• BC Hydro will continue to bring on energy and capacity resources to match demand; 
• there will be no limit, or allowance on the amount of power available to these industries; and,
• they will pay the standard industrial rate for electricity.

Supporting emerging sectors

The growth of emerging industries including data centres, AI, and hydrogen for export will continue to be enabled. However, these projects generally provide fewer jobs and revenues for the province than natural-resource projects, while consuming large volumes of power.

To manage this growth responsibly and balance critical energy needs throughout B.C., the Province will introduce changes through regulation that will prioritize electricity service to projects in emerging sectors that provide the greatest benefit for British Columbians, and do so at an appropriate pace.

BC Hydro will launch a competitive call for projects in early 2026 for a two-year period that allocates 300 megawatts (MW) for AI, 100 MW for data centres, and amounts for hydrogen exports that will be set at a later time, as market conditions warrant.

Projects that are applying to the process will be assessed to ensure alignment with B.C.’s economic objectives, such as jobs and benefit to provincial interests, while remaining within the total energy volumes allocated to these specific sectors.

Cryptocurrency mining will remain excluded from this process in line with existing regulations prohibiting new connections for cryptocurrency mining, due to its disproportionate energy consumption and limited economic benefit. New BC Hydro connections for cryptocurrency mining will be banned permanently.

Striking a balance

Data centres and AI can offer tremendous potential for innovation, information technology and data sovereignty, and AI adoption will continue to improve productivity and competitiveness for B.C. industies. However, their rapid expansion and high energy consumption require balanced, forward-looking planning.

A new B.C. electricity allocation framework will encourage investment in natural-resource industries that create well-paying jobs, avoid emissions and keep energy affordable for people in British Columbia. It will also support growth in emerging sectors by prioritizing the projects that deliver the greatest benefit to British Columbia, while ensuring B.C.’s overall energy needs are responsibly and sustainably met.