B.C. to create ‘one stop shop’ for renewable energy project permitting, regulation

The B.C. authorities says it volition walk authorities this outpouring to bring each permitting and regularisation of planned caller renewable energy projects nether the BC Energy Regulator (BCER).

The determination would make a “single-window” permitting process for renewable vigor processes, including 9 precocious announced, privately funded and bulk First Nation-owned upwind projects that volition provender powerfulness to the BC Hydro grid.

The state has already announced that each aboriginal upwind projects volition beryllium exempt from the biology appraisal process. The BCER, which has traditionally regulated the lipid and state industry, volition present beryllium tasked with fast-tracking upwind and star projects portion ensuring they conscionable the province’s standards.

“We are looking astatine each mode we tin to guarantee that, portion maintaining precocious biology standards, and maintaining our committedness to reconciliation, we tin beforehand projects,” Energy and Climate Solutions Minister Adrian Dix said.

Dix said having a azygous bureau overseeing the process volition shave years disconnected the support process, though helium couldn’t accidental erstwhile the caller upwind projects mightiness spot shovels successful the ground.

“We privation the projects successful work arsenic well, but it is hard contiguous to accidental what this means tangibly successful presumption of a date,” said Colleen Giroux-Schmidt, vice-president of firm relations and situation for Innergex Renewable Energy, which volition physique 3 of the upwind farms.

Giroux-Schmid said permitting is conscionable 1 of galore hurdles the task indispensable wide earlier moving forward, including an biology reappraisal by First Nations, the interconnection process with BC Hydro and the procurement of materials and labour to really statesman work.

Giroux-Schmid said the province’s determination was significant.

“It means we are going to person a much definite and predictable and businesslike permitting process to determination through,” she said.

“Before, we utilized to person to woody with a plethora of antithetic ministries and agencies to get those permits, truthful determination was a batch of inefficiency.”

Andrew Gage, a unit lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, said it was bully to spot the state leaning into caller cleanable vigor projects.

But helium voiced concerns that fast-tracking projects could travel with unintended consequences.

“There is an expression, look earlier you leap — the biology laws are determination for a reason, they are determination to marque definite we don’t marque mistakes we volition regret later, determination is simply a equilibrium to beryllium struck here,” helium said.

“They volition person to beryllium they are doing this successful a transparent and credible manner,” helium added.

“There’s thing inherently incorrect with being benignant of single-window, but wherever it’s being done little successful the involvement successful protecting the situation … and much successful the involvement of conscionable rushing things on … determination is simply a concern.”

Along with renewable powerfulness projects, the legislative changes volition besides marque the BCER the superior regulator for the operation of the North Coast Transmission Line and different high-voltage energy transmission projects.