Renewable energy projects run by First Nations could help B.C. power through the climate crisis, but government roadblocks threaten their participation, says a recent report from the Pembina Institute and the New Relationship Trust.

“I really wanted to help First Nations put out a First Nations’ perspective on energy planning,” said Cole Sayers, director of clean energy initiatives at the New Relationship Trust, a non-profit organization supporting First Nations’ governance, and a contributor to the project. “We wanted to make it easy for government to say, ‘Here’s some policy options that can be implemented right now, and these are what First Nations want.’”

The report found that First Nations owned, operated or co-partnered renewable energy projects that generate 13 per cent of B.C.’s electricity — an amount more than the future output of the Site C dam.

Non-storage run-of-river projects make up the majority of First Nations’ renewable energy projects in B.C., and wind energy comes in second at 30 per cent. The report adds that for new projects investment possibilities in wind and solar are increasing.

Many of those projects were spurred on decades ago through a BC Hydro program that provided contracts for small power projects selling to the provincial electrical grid.

That program was suspended indefinitely in 2019 by the NDP government, which cited the oversupply of power and the high costs of independent power contracts. With limited opportunities to sell power on BC Hydro’s power lines, small-power projects face an uncertain future.

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