S TANDARD TERRACE
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VOL. 26 NO. 20
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Gas-fired power plant wanted Veresen Inc., the same company that’s building a runof-river hydroelectric project southwest of Terrace, has announced plans for another development, this one a natural gas-powered electricity generating facility at the City of Terrace’s Skeena Industrial Development Park just south of the airport. Called the Terrace Energy Centre, the facility will “provide reliable, economic energy to support industrial development and provide emergency generation capacity in the northwest,” indicates a Veresen presentation made to city council Aug. 26. The facility “will provide a long-term, predictable taxation and revenue stream for the City of Terrace and Kitselas First Nation” and will create 300 jobs during its construction stage and 10-12 jobs after completion, Veresen’s presentation added. Veresen has signed a memorandum of understanding with the city for the purchase of airport-area lands. Listed among issues are greenhouse gas emissions, nitrous oxide, sulfur oxide and particulates that would come from burning natural gas. The report states that Veresen will apply for an official environmental review once the government and BC Hydro tell it what their generation requirements are. BC Hydro released a long awaited electrical generation report late last week in which it indicated electricity demand will increase by 40 per cent over the next 20 years. The report highlights the massive Site C power project in the northeast and conservation methods as key factors in providing electricity to meet demand but it also mentioned using natural gas as a means of producing power. Calgary-based Veresen is an energy company which operates other electricity-producing facilities in Canada and the United States which feature turbines powered by natural gas. The publicly-traded company also has interests in various pipelines in addition to wind turbine operations and has operations of various kinds elsewhere in B.C., in Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Colorado and California. Veresen’s presentation highlighted its business relationship with the Kitselas First Nation whose traditional territory takes in the lands around the airport. That relationship began when Swift Power, which was subsequently bought by Veresen, began exploring the potential to build a run-of-river hydro project using water from the Dasque and Middle creeks southwest of Terrace. Construction of that project is now underway. Also regarded as beneficial to Veresen’s plans is the closeness of BC Hydro’s Skeena Substation, which would be the entry point into the provincial grid for the facility’s power, and the natural gas line owned by Pacific Northern Gas. Veresen has been negotiating a deal with that company to supply natural gas. As Veresen works on its natural gas-powered plan, it has run into difficulties on its Dasque-Middle run-of-river project. Prime sub-contractor Dowland is now in receivership and Veresen, which has a contract to sell the power it will generate to BC Hydro, has now had to hire other companies to finish the project. “Consequently, commercial in-service is expected to be delayed until 2014,” reported the company this month as it outline its overall second quarter financial results.
MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO
■■ Old-style lunch bryson bevan enjoys the beef stew at the Ksan Society 1940s Army Style Community Lunch at Ksan Place Aug. 22. Ksan Place was an officers’ mess hall during the Second World War. About 60 to 70 people came out for the meal, which the Ksan Girls Group helped to prepare.
Website promotes job training A WEBSITE meant to connect workers with skilled jobs expected from industrial development in the next years is now active. iChinook has its roots in a committee set up several years ago by BC Hydro to consider the number of direct and indirect jobs that could come from its Northwest Transmission Line now under construction. That committee then added other potential industrial developments, including the prospect of liquefied natural gas plants, to its list and commissioned a report indicating there was a gap between job skills of northwest residents and those that would be needed to work on the projects. “British Columbia has tremendous opportunities for eco-
nomic prosperity over the next 10 years, and we need to ensure that skills training is aligned with the jobs on the ground in sectors and regions across this province,” said provincial jobs minister Shirley Bond in explaining the committee’s work and the website’s purpose. There are provisions on the website for companies to post jobs, for people to learn more about overall job opportunities and the money available to take training programs. One key element is making sure there are trained people on hand to meet the requirements of large industrial concerns.
Cont’d Page A36
Crime fighters
Financial reports
Rugby star
Youths learn about police and their work by trying out what they do \COMMUNITY A22
See which MLAs spent the most in this past provincial election \NEWS A10
Silver lining for local RCMP officer at World Police and Fire Games \SPORTS A32