While the “dumpster fire” at ICBC has hogged the headlines another crown corporation could also pose a financial headache for the provincial government.
As we wait for a Ministry of Finance review of BC Hydro’s books Premier John Horgan was asked on NL’s Inside #bcpoli if he was concerned about the utility’s finances.
“Oh absolutely. We had not anticipated the magnitude of the problem at ICBC so that has taken a whole bunch of our energy and a whole bunch of taxpayer money to stop the bleeding there. That has kind of overshadowed the problems at BC Hydro. Of course the root of that was a $10 billion decision to build more capacity when we didn’t need it.”
Horgan says the province has paid down deferral accounts at BC Hydro containing billions of dollars to what he called a “manageable level.”
“But we have a long long way to go yet.”
He says we likely won’t see the results of the finance ministry’s deep dive into Hydro’s books until close to February’s provincial budget.