When the Gordon Campbell government encouraged B.C. Hydro to buy clean power from independent producers, it was billed as a means of protecting ratepayers from costly megaprojects and advancing environmental objectives.

The B.C. Energy Plan, which was unveiled in 2002, directed the public utility to no longer generate its own electricity; the following year, B.C. Hydro's transmission assets were spun off in a separate Crown corporation—which remained in place until 2010.

But a new NDP government-commissioned report called Zapped has concluded that B.C. Hydro paid too much for this independent power and at the wrong profile.

The author, Ken Davidson, is a commercial banker by trade, consultant, and former official with the provincial treasury board.

"Government directed BC Hydro to purchase 8,500 GWH (gigawatt hours) of Firm energy BC Hydro did not need," Davidson wrote in his report.

These electricity purchase agreements have cost ratepayers approximately $16.2 billion over 20 years. That amounts to about $200 per year per residential ratepayer.

Moreover, Davidson insisted in the report that the $16.2-billion figure is "believed to be conservative".

The report also stated that B.C. Hydro will lose $6.8 billion by selling energy to ratepayers at a price that's lower than what the Crown-owned utility is paying the private producers.

In comparison, the capital cost of the Site C dam in northeastern B.C. is estimated at $10.7 billion. It will produce about 5,100 gigawatt hours per year.

The minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources, Michelle Mungall, said in a news release that the previous government "put their own interests ahead of what's best for the province and B.C. Hydro customers".

"They ignored the professional advice, they ignored the auditor general, and they ignored the growing debt—and instead chose to make British Columbians pay the price for their choices, today and for decades to come," she said. "Following this review, it's our government's job to fix what's broken, put B.C. Hydro onto a sustainable path and make sure rates stay as affordable as possible for customers."

It's doing this by making $1.1 billion available to the Crown corporation to limit price rises for its customers.

B.C. Hydro is seeking the approval of the B.C. Utilities Commission for a rate increase of 1.8 percent this year and 0.7 percent next year.

The utility increases are part of a planned cumulative rate hike of 8.1 percent over five years.

Under the previous B.C. Liberal government, plans called for a 13.7 percent cumulative rate increase over the same period.

This year, the review of B.C. Hydro will enter a second phase, looking at how B.C. Hydro can maximize opportunities resulting from shifts in the energy sector and technology.

Burrard Thermal cited in report 

Zapped devotes a section to Burrard Thermal, which is a natural-gas-fired plant in Port Moody with 900 megawatts of capacity. For many years, some environmentalists wanted the plant closed, even after upgrades with combined-cycle technology cleaned it up somewhat.

That's because of its significant greenhouse gas emissions and detrimental impact on air quality.

A 2008 B.C. Hydro consultant's report indicated that if Burrard Thermal had been rebuilt as a winter peaking unit generating 600 gigawatt hours per year would emit 52 milligrams per cubic metre of nitrous oxides, four milligrams per cubic metre of sulphur oxides, and 12 particulate matter emissions. The nitrous oxide and particulate totals exceeded Metro Vancouver's allowable one-hour permit emission limits at the time.

The B.C. Liberal government directed B.C. Hydro to wind down operations at Burrard Thermal, only using it in emergencies. Opponents claimed that this move was designed to prop up the private-power producers by creating new demand for electricity.

Davidson's report cites a September 21, 2009 memo by then B.C. Hydro CEO Bob Elton, which said that relying on Burrard Thermal for 3,000 gigwatt hours of electricity would have generated $900 million in savings in comparison to the plant operating at much lower levels.

"Further if BC Hydro acted as directed and relied on Burrard Thermal for 900 MW of capacity but no energy, it would still need to complete improvements to Burrard to maintain the operating lease," Davidson notes. "These improvements would cost $200-$300 million, with no offsetting revenue."

Elton lost his job as B.C. Hydro CEO in early November, 2009.

Earlier that year, former B.C. Utilities Commission chair Mark Jaccard told the Georgia Straight that he supported phasing out the burning of natural gas at Burrard Thermal but wanted the plant retained in case it was needed in an emergency.

“Burrard is fantastic because of where it’s located,” Jaccard said at the time. “It’s got transmission lines right there. It’s got a substation. It’s got loading terminals. There is no development around it.”

In 2014, B.C. Hydro's then executive vice president of generation, Chris O'Riley, told the Vancouver Sun that upgrading Burrard Thermal would cost $400 million to $500 million. O'Riley is now B.C. Hydro's CEO.

Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver's Caring for the Air 2018 report documented a two percent reduction in regional greenhouse gas emissions from 2010 to 2015 even as the population continued growing.