BC’s Energy Objectives were set out in the Clean Energy Act.

They were subsequently modified in 2024, so the version in the Clean Energy Act is no longer current.

The 2024 modification set out the following priority among the energy objectives:

“The energy objectives set out in section 2 (f.2) and (g) of the Act have priority over
the other energy objectives set out in that section.”

Current energy objectives

The current list of BC’s Energy Objectives is as follows:

(a) to achieve electricity self-sufficiency;

(b) to take demand-side measures and to conserve energy, including the objective of the authority reducing its expected increase in demand for electricity by the year 2020 by at least 66%;

(c) by 2030, to ensure that 100% of the electricity generated in British
Columbia and supplied to the integrated grid is generated from clean or
renewable resources, and to ensure that the infrastructure necessary to
transmit that electricity is built;

(d) to use and foster the development in British Columbia of innovative technologies that support energy conservation and efficiency and the use of clean or renewable resources;

(e) to ensure the authority’s ratepayers receive the benefits of the heritage assets and to ensure the benefits of the heritage contract under the BC Hydro Public Power Legacy and Heritage Contract Act continue to accrue to the authority’s ratepayers;

(f) to ensure the authority’s rates remain among the most competitive of rates charged by public utilities in North America;

(f.1) to ensure that changes to the authority’s rates

(f.1) (i) are reasonably predictable, and

(f.1) (ii) are reasonably consistent from year to year;

(f.2) to ensure that increases to the authority’s rates do not exceed cumulative
inflation

(g) to reduce BC greenhouse gas emissions

(g) (i) by 2012 and for each subsequent calendar year to at least 6% less than the level of those emissions in 2007,

(g) (ii) by 2016 and for each subsequent calendar year to at least 18% less than the level of those emissions in 2007,

(g) (iii) by 2020 and for each subsequent calendar year to at least 33% less than the level of those emissions in 2007,

(g) (iv) by 2050 and for each subsequent calendar year to at least 80% less than the level of those emissions in 2007, and

(g) (v) by such other amounts as determined under the Climate Change Accountability Act;

(g.1) to ensure that the authority holds rights to a sufficient amount of clean or
renewable electricity to enable British Columbia to meet the objective set
out in paragraph (g);

(h) to encourage the switching from one kind of energy source or use to another that decreases greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia;

(i) to encourage communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use energy efficiently;

(j) to reduce waste by encouraging the use of waste heat, biogas and biomass;

(k) to encourage economic development and the creation and retention of jobs;

(l) to foster the development of first nation and rural communities through the use and development of clean or renewable resources;

(m) to maximize the value, including the incremental value of the resources being clean or renewable resources, of British Columbia’s generation and transmission assets for the benefit of British Columbia;

(n) to be a net exporter of electricity from clean or renewable resources with the intention of benefiting all British Columbians and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in regions in which British Columbia trades electricity while protecting the interests of persons who receive or may receive service in British Columbia;

(o) to achieve British Columbia’s energy objectives without the use of nuclear power.