Site C dam

The Site C Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Peace River, 14 kilometres southwest of Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located approximately 80 kilometres downstream from the W. A. C. Bennett Dam. Completed in 2025, it is the fourth largest producer of hydroelectricity in British Columbia, with an expected capacity of 1,230 MW and an expected annual output of 4,600 GWh of electricity.

A publicly accessible viewpoint is located immediately west of the City of Fort St. John, on the south side of Highway 97.

The project has drawn considerable opposition from several quarters due to its planned flooding of agricultural land, damage to the local environment, high construction cost, possible alternatives, and the uncertainty of future electricity prices and demand in the province. Two Treaty 8 First Nations and local landowners made legal challenges to the dam, though these were dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal. In addition, over 200 scholars, as well as the Royal Society of Canada, expressed concerns to the federal Liberal government, citing weakness in the regulatory review process and the environmental assessment for the project. In May 2016, the federal government of Canada stated it is "not revisiting projects that have been reviewed and approved". On 11 December 2017, John Horgan, the premier of British Columbia, announced: "We've come to a conclusion that, although Site C is not the project we would have favoured or would have started, it must be completed", thus guaranteeing the completion of the project. On 8 November 2024, BC Hydro announced that the reservoir was full and that the first generator was operational.

When completed, Site C will be the third of four major dams on the Peace River initially proposed in the mid-twentieth century. The first project was the flagship^{[further explanation needed]} W. A. C. Bennett Dam 19 kilometres west of Hudson's Hope. The Bennett Dam began operation in 1968 and formed Williston Reservoir, which is the third largest man-made lake in North America, spanning 250 kilometres north-south and 150 kilometres east-west. The lake is 95% larger than the Site C reservoir will become. The second dam, Peace Canyon Dam, was completed in 1980 at a point 23 km downstream of the W. A. C. Bennett dam. The third dam, "Site C", was also proposed for 83 km downriver of the Peace Canyon dam, or approximately 7 km southwest of Fort St. John. Site C would flood an 83 km length of the Peace River valley, widening the river by up to three times, as well as a 10 km length of the Moberly River valley and 14 km of the Halfway River valley. The fourth proposed dam on the British Columbia segment of the Peace River, Site E, near the BC–Alberta border, was removed from the planning process during hearings in 1982.

After hearings between 1981 and 1983, the British Columbia Utilities Commission turned down the Site C project. The commission was critical of BC Hydro's forecasting methods, declaring that it neither explicitly took energy prices into account nor relied on statistically significant past patterns of behaviour. BC Hydro then chose to purchase electricity under long-term contracts from independent power producers, and it continues to do so today. As of 2017 these annual purchases are about four times the capacity of Site C. Once the initial contracts with BC Hydro expire, these independent producers may be free to export their electricity.

In April 2010, passage of the Clean Energy Act exempted the project from further BC Utilities Commission review. Site C was being reconsidered by BC Hydro for two years prior as the utility reconsidered expansion of its dam capacity on the Peace. Also in April 2010, the provincial government announced it would move forward on planning for the project, moving it to the regulatory review phase. The review was mandated under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012) and the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act (BCEAA). To avoid duplication, the governments of Canada and British Columbia set up a cooperative federal-provincial environmental assessment, including a joint review panel (JRP) process.

In October 2014, Site C received environmental assessment approvals from the federal and provincial governments after a three-year environmental review, including a federal/provincial Joint Review Panel process. In December 2014, the provincial government announced a final investment decision, approving the construction of the hydroelectric project at $8.335 billion, as well as a project reserve of $440 million. A notice of Site C construction commencing in 2015 was issued in July 2015. By March 2016, site clearing, attempts at bank stabilization and the search for bedrock took the majority of BC Hydro's focus - there were no "works" in the ground; the diversion tunnels had not yet been started. BC Premier Christy Clark's stated intention was to get dam construction "to the point of no return" by the time of a scheduled general election in May 2017. The provincial election resulted in the previous Liberal government being defeated and a New Democratic government taking office. The newly elected government requested the BC Utilities Commission 2017 review.

BC's opposition New Democratic Party promised a review of the project by the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) should they win the 2017 general election. Hydro critic Adrian Dix called the B.C. Liberal government "reckless" for not having already done the review, as was recommended by the federal-provincial Joint Review Panel led by Harry Swain. On 2 August 2017, following a provincial election, the NDP government requested that the BCUC evaluate the cost to BC Hydro ratepayers of continuing, suspending or terminating construction of the Site C dam. In its Final Report published on 1 November 2019, the BCUC reached two overarching conclusions: