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Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook - CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.

The site is a sister to Atlantic Free Press.

The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.

Passing the Bucks: Bill 15 Hamstrings Private Power Oversight

Written by Western Canada Wilderness Committee
Sunday, 20 April 2008
Bill 15 to enrich private power producers, shock ratepayers and harm the environment says Wilderness Committee by WCWC The Wilderness Committee today sounded the alarm about legislation rapidly moving towards becoming BC law. Bill 15, the Utilities Commission Amendment Act, is waiting for Royal Assent in the BC Legislature, before becoming law. Two years ago the government of BC passed Bill 30, which removes local community government oversight of private power projects. Now Bill 15 aims to significantly reduce the oversight of the BC Utilities Commission over private power projects. Vancouver, BC ~ Bill 15 will largely strip the Utilities Commission of its independence and make it impossible to stop bad deals without the consent of the provincial government. Currently, the BC Utilities Commission has the authority to order a stop to agreements made by the BC Government to purchase power from private producers if those agreements have prices set so high they are a bad deal for provincial ratepayers. Formerly the BCUC was tasked with protecting the best interests of British Columbians in regards to power purchases by BC Hydro. "The result of this proposed law will come back to shock anyone who pays an electrical bill in this province," said Joe Foy, Wilderness Committee Campaign Director. "Many of these proposed projects would not be possible, if not for the inflated rates that Bill 15 will facilitate. With the passage of Bill 15 the Utilities Commission becomes nothing but a toothless lap dog on a choke chain catering to the private power producers' every desire." The Wilderness Committee believes that Bill 15 has been introduced because of the gold rush of private power developers currently staking hundreds of rivers and streams across the province. "The BC Government doesn't want to be embarrassed by the Commission telling the public that these private developers are being paid too much for their power," said Gwen Barlee, Policy Director with the Wilderness Committee. "This Bill greases the skids for private power developers and leaves the public out in the cold." "As a result of Bill 15, we are going to see environmental degradation in streams where private power projects should never have been built and we'll see our power bills go through the roof," commented Foy. The Wilderness Committee opposes the passage of Bill 15, is calling for the repeal of Bill 30 and supports an immediate moratorium on private hydropower development in BC. For more information contact: Joe Foy 604-683-8220 (work tel) or 604- 880-2580 (cell tel) Gwen Barlee 604-683-8220 (work tel) or 604-202-0322 (cell tel) Sue Fox \| Director of Publications, Communications and Special Events Wilderness Committee \| Canada's largest membership-based wilderness preservation organization Office: 4 Floor, 341 Water St., Vancouver, BC V6B 1B8 Mail: 227 Abbott St., Vancouver, BC V6B 2K7 Office: 604-683-8220 \| Fax: 604-683-8229 Web: www.wildernesscommittee.org Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 499 Facebook del.icio.us Digg Furl Yahoo! My Web StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati reddit We are sorry, for registered members only. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Website Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

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