The mayor of Barriere says BC Hydro has assured the community there’s plenty of power available for future industrial growth that is expected.

The District had wanted grant money to study power capacity in Louis Creek, but Ward Stamer says that plan has changed after a call this week with BC Hydro.

“We don’t really need the grant request right now, because of what’s occurred in Vavenby unfortunately. With the mill closing down, and a pretty good chance it won’t reopen, that’s going to give us a lot more power than what was initially going to be made available, because of the mill being closed.”

Stamer says an initial study by BC Hydro also showed that even with the Vavenby mill, there would be enough power available in the North Thompson for the equivalent of 10,000 new homes.

Two companies recently purchased in the Louis Creek industrial park to grow cannabis. Stamer says a new industrial development in the park will likely be announced soon; he couldn’t say what besides saying it was unrelated to cannabis.