Two new BC government bills — the Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act, Bill 14, and the Infrastructure Projects Act, Bill 15, ran into opposition from some First Nations groups.
Some Indigenous organizations decried lack of advance consultation on the proposed laws.
But a point that critics miss is that Bill 14 means some benefit for the LNG sector, namely the speeding up of the North Coast Transmission Line (NCTL), 450 kilometres of high-voltage power line from Prince George to Terrace.
Bill 14 specifies that BC’s Environmental Assessment Act (which could mean delayed approvals) does not apply to the transmission line.
The NCTL would eventually feed more power to, among others, LNG Canada, which hopes to get added BC Hydro power for its potential Phase Two operations.
If Hydro can’t supply enough, LNG Canada would have to burn natural gas to generate some of its own power. It now has to do that for Phase One, which will soon start export operations.
Also seeking future Hydro power to keep down greenhouse-gas emissions are the Haisla Nation’s Cedar LNG project, which has begun construction, and the Nisga’a Nation’s proposed Ksi Lisims LNG plant.
Cedar LNG says it aims to be “powered by renewable electricity from BC Hydro, making it one of the lowest carbon-intensity LNG facilities in the world.”
And Ksi Lisims (which is going through government assessment processes) says: “The facility will have one of the lowest carbon intensities of any LNG export project in the world, utilizing several technologies to reduce carbon emissions, including using renewable hydropower from the BC grid.”
They, too, would have to burn natural gas to generate electricity if Hydro can’t come through with enough power.
Hydro’s ability to provide more power has long been of concern. And so the provincial government in March eased its requirement that any new LNG project must have a “credible plan” to achieve net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030.
It announced that “net-zero by 2030” now is actually “net-zero ready by 2030,” meaning the developers must have such a plan “unless it is not reasonably possible . . . for the project to be served by grid electricity by 2030.”
Hydro earlier received some 29 requests for more power in the NCTL region, amounting in total to 2.5 times the capacity of the current transmission line.
The new line would also feed power to mines and other resources. A government news release cited critical-mineral and metal mining, port electrification, hydrogen and fuel processing, and shipping projects under consideration.
And NCTL would power homes, as well.
Hydro has talked of getting the first stage of NCTL in operation by 2030 and the remaining section by 2032. The cost was estimated — in 2023 — at some $3 billion, and Hydro says it would be among $4.7 billion in its spending in northern BC.
BC Hydro and the province have been working with First Nations coordinated by the K’uul Power group to select routes for sections of the new line, reach an environmental protection plan, design a co-ownership partnership and work out benefit sharing agreements.
The government says: “The proposed transmission system expansion also gives us a chance to advance reconciliation by partnering with First Nations on new approaches to infrastructure development, including Indigenous co-ownership of the new transmission lines.”
Bill 14 would also apply to biomass, biogas, ocean tidal-power or any other clean-energy projects.
The key move is to give the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) the authority to oversee renewable-energy projects and make it the primary permitting agency for renewable-energy projects and transmission lines.
“The legislation will help simplify the approvals process for these projects, eliminating the need for cross-ministry and agency permitting, by establishing the BCER as the single window for permitting in accordance with strict environmental standards.”
In the end, Bills 14 and 15 did pass in the legislature, with the government requiring a tie-breaking vote from the Speaker.
“Reconciliation in BC is having a near-death experience,” protested Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.
Earlier, Premier David Eby released a letter from Nisga’a Nation president Eva Clayton, which said: “The Nisga’a Lisims government welcomes the introduction of the bills and generally supports streamlining energy and major public and private infrastructure projects across B.C.
“We have been advocating for a more efficient and effective regulatory regime for some time now and we have valuable input based on our continuing experiences through various regulatory processes for (our) projects.”
But Clayton had also asked for “our early involvement” in the bills.
That, she said, would “ensure that the bills are developed and implemented in a way that respects our constitutionally guaranteed and protected rights defined in the Nisga’a Treaty.”
With the two laws passed, Eby set off on June 1 on a 10-day trade mission to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia — but a First Nations leader pulled out of the delegation because of the new laws.
Terry Teegee, regional chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations, said in a news release: “How can we participate in trade missions to promote resource development when this government has just rammed through legislation that tramples our rights and threatens our territories?”
Earlier, the BC Assembly of First Nations issued a separate statement: “While the Premier seeks to strengthen B.C.’s economic relationships in the Indo-Pacific region and promote investment in major natural resource projects, his government has simultaneously undermined the very rights and relationships that are foundations to sustainable economic development in First Nations territories.”
(Posted here 28 May 2025, and expanded 02 June 2025)
