On April 20th BC Hydro announced changes to the net-metering program. The announcement was made late on a Friday afternoon, which is when one makes announcements that you hope the public and media will ignore. About 95% of the projects under net-metering are solar energy (photovoltaic) projects. The immediate change would limit the size of projects based on the utility customer's electrical consumption in the prior year. It would also end the payment for excess annual power. This change won't have a major affect on new participation since most projects would fall below this threshold. What is more worrisome is the contents of the submission to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) which will need to approve the change. In the submission it is clear that BC Hydro thinks that there is already too much enrolment in the net-metering program. And they state they will further review the program and make another submission to the BCUC before the end of the year. Reading between the
Oulu, Finland sounds like an interesting place. A subarctic climate but with more than 500 km of bike routes (mostly separated). Vancouver is at about 400 km, most not separated. And their modal share for cycling is between 20 and 37%. If Vancouver is going to be the world's greenest city we need to catch up with cities like Oulu. Unfortunately some of those candidates running for mayor want us to fall further behind.
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