Keeping wind turbines from going up
District officials say the projects would provide desperately needed jobs for the community of 2,700, which is still reeling from a rash of mine closures earlier this year.
But how much electricity BC Hydro will buy from private companies, either before or after construction of the 1,100 megawatt dam, is not clear.
"We're concerned not so much about Site C proceeding, but its effect on wind power," Tumbler Ridge Chief Administrative Officer Barry Elliott told Alaska Highway News.
The district is working to secure meetings with the power authority, in hopes of convincing them to sign agreements with producers that have projects proposed in the Tumbler Ridge area.
Lack of demand is the only thing keeping wind turbines from going up on two projects, he said, adding that additional projects are at earlier stages.
The furthest along is Pattern Development's Meikle Wind project, which recently signed a 25-year energy purchase agreement with BC Hydro and expects to start construction in 2015.
But both Brookfield Energy and EDF-EN have put plans for 250 megawatt, $600 million wind farms near Tumbler Ridge on hold.
"Tumbler Ridge is facing uncertainty with the shutdown of two coal mines and with a third coal mine scheduled to shut down at the end of December," Elliott wrote in a letter to BC Hydro boss Jessica McDonald. "There are alternative energy projects that are shovel ready with the only impediment being the limited calls for power by BC Hydro."