BC Hydro is the major provider of electricity in British Columbia. It is the successor to BC Electric, which the provincial government took over in 1961, and until recently was operated as a vertically-integrated government-run monopoly comprised of electricity generation, transmission and distribution capacities. It has been subjected to radical changes in recent years by the extremely corporatist BC Liberal Party. Back-office functions of BC Hydro, such as accounting and customer care, have been contracted out to Bermuda-based Accenture. BC Hydro has been forbidden to develop any new generation capacity; instead it must now purchase all additional energy it requires from private-sector "Independent Power Producers". The transmission component has also been spun off and is now managed by a new and separate crown corporation, the BC Transmission Corporation (BCTC). The company's existing power generation and distribution equipment remains public.

BC Hydro (as evidenced by its name) produces the majority of its electricity through a series of hydroelectric dams on the upper Columbia River. The construction of some of these dams resulted in many lakes greater than 100 km in length, which can be seen on maps of British Columbia or in satellite photography. The lakes, which flooded sparsely inhabited areas are now popular summer vacation destinations.

In British Columbia the monthly household electricity bill is known as a "Hydro bill", which occasionally confuses recent immigrants who assume a "Hydro bill" would be related to the city water supply.

External links

BC Hydro company website (http://www.bchydro.com/)