B.C. Hydro would face payouts of more than $1 billion to cancel or suspend the Site C project, according to an independent review for the B.C. Utilities Commission.
The Crown corporation would also have to discount or write off the more than $2 billion already spent building the giant hydroelectric dam on the Peace River, before starting from scratch to seek alternatives.
Those and other considerations loom large going into next week as the utilities commission prepares to meet the Wednesday deadline for giving preliminary answers to cabinet about the economic viability and possible disposition of Site C.
Given the fast track nature of the exercise — the New Democrats allowed a mere six weeks to produce the preliminary report — the commission retained the accounting firm of Deloitte LLP to provide an independent window on the Hydro project.
Vaughn Palmer – Vancouver Sun – September 14, 2017.