A clean hydroelectric dam sounds pretty promising. Hopefully it would provide 1,100 megawatts of capacity and produce about 5,100 gigawatt hours of electricity each year, enough to power 450,000 homes in B.C. Unfortunately, it comes with a price.
Site C Clean Energy project is planned to be constructed along the Peace River of northern British Columbia. It is predicted that the dam would flood 83 kilometers of the Peace River Valley. Farmland, wildlife habitat, and archaeological sites in the area would be destroyed. Furthermore, these lands have been homes to the First Nation people for hundreds of years. Constructing a dam would affect their livings and change their ways of life.
In my opinion, the dam’s benefits outweigh the negative ones. The project would not only provide cheaper hydroelectricity for the nearby gas, oil, and mining industries, but it would also create thousands of jobs for both natives and non-natives. These are some of the positive externalities that the dam would bring to the region. However, it is also a threat to many agricultural and fisheries related industry. The destruction of forests and water habitat would cause these businesses to produce less and therefore lose profits or even get shut down.
I feel like the Native people are being taken advantage of. If the dam is going to be proceeded, government should provide them with some compensation such as building them new permanent residences and providing subsidies. B.C.’s population is growing and a renewable source of energy will be very needed in the future. I think that Site C can indeed be a win-win situation.