Robin Austin introduced the Water Resource Protection Act to the Legislature today. This Bill is intended to ensure that British Columbians are fairly compensated for the use of our public waterways to produce private power. Since Independent Power Projects (IPPs) began using our rivers to produce power privately for sale to BC Hydro there has been a growing gap between fixed water rental prices and rising wholesale and retail prices for electricity. This means that private companies have been making greater and greater profits without giving back to the citizens of British Columbia.

“Water is a valuable resource that belongs to the people of this province.” Robin said, introducing the bill, "British Columbians should benefit from the use of that resource." Energy purchases from Private Power Producers are much more expensive than the cost of electricity produced by the existing BC Hydro system. The average cost of electricity produced by the public system is in the range of $23/MWh. In contrast, the average price from Private Power Producers in BC Hydro’s most recent call is $86/MWh.

The Water Resource Protection Act would address the gap between water use rental rates and prices for electricity by fixing the rental rates to the price of power. Doing so would guarantee investors in independent power projects get a fair return without cheating British Columbians of their province's natural wealth.