Gitga'at First Nation
Community Energy Planning (2002-2003)

Overview

In 2003, the Gitga'at First Nation sought the assistance of the Pembina Institute in assessing its options for reducing the costs and environmental risks — notably diesel fuel spills — of providing electricity to its remote community of Hartley Bay, British Columbia.

The community relied on diesel-generated power to meet the needs of its 250 residents, local businesses and public buildings including the school, community centre and Band Office. The Gitga'at First Nation was particularly concerned about soil and groundwater contamination from diesel spills, as well as the potential for contamination of local fishery operations. Other concerns included reliability, cost and maintenance issues associated with operating the diesel generator.

The Gitga'at Nation was interested in using local renewable energy — namely small-scale hydro power — to meet the community's electricity needs more cost effectively and reduce environmental risks.

The Community Energy Planning Process

The Pembina Institute worked with the Gitga'at First Nation to complete a community energy planning (CEP) project that included the following:

• baseline energy assessment
• energy demand forecast
• survey of household energy use
• stream flow monitoring
• pre-feasibility study for small-scale hydro options.

Outcomes

The Gitga'at First Nation is implementing the recommendations from the CEP study and has begun construction of a mini-hydro system that will replace their diesel generators as the primary source of electricity. Key benefits of the CEP for the community included access to clean, affordable renewable energy and increased awareness of energy impacts.

Access to clean, affordable renewable energy

Through the CEP, our team determined that hydro-electricity could provide renewable energy to meet the community's electricity needs. Using hydro-electricity would also help to address the Gitga'at Nation's concerns regarding the high costs and environmental risks associated with diesel-generated electricity, including the impact of local air quality on human health.

The community of Hartley Bay was using over 500,000 litres of diesel fuel each year to generate its electricity, resulting in pollution equivalent to 230 diesel trucks each driving 55 kilometres per day in the small community. Shifting to clean, renewable hydro power offered a means to significantly reduce air pollution and environmental risks associated with diesel fuel spills.

The economic cost to the Gitga'at of relying on diesel-generated power was also high. In 2002, the price of diesel was approximately $0.60 per litre (diesel prices have subsequently doubled), resulting in an operating cost of 26¢ per kWh — more than four times higher than the cost of electricity for BC Hydro customers connected to the grid. Using diesel generators, the community's electricity costs per year exceeded $300,000. The Pembina Institute estimated that a new hydro project could generate power at a cost of 20¢ per kWh (including both capital and operating costs). Over 20 years, the community would save over $2.65 million dollars.

Increased awareness of energy impacts

Community consultation was a major component of the Hartley Bay energy planning process. In addition to community leaders, teachers and students were also engaged in the project.

Our education team worked with local children to build small working models of hydro-electric generators and thus teach them about hydro power.

As part of the education program, children also completed energy use surveys in their own homes. They counted light bulbs and appliances in their homes and determined how often these items were turned on each day to calculate their household energy use. The program helped to raise awareness among students and their families of the importance of energy conservation and renewable energy.

Key Milestones

Key milestones throughout the CEP included the following:

1. Future Demand Forecast

The Pembina Institute took an in-depth look into future energy demand for the community. This exercise included forecasting to 20 years based on three different scenarios:

• Population growth increasing electricity demand
• Population growth combined with energy efficiency measures to curb the growth in electricity demand
• Conversion of fuel oil heating systems to electric heating systems for both community buildings and homes.

The scenarios enabled our team to consider how effective renewable energy options would be in meeting the community's future energy demands, and identify opportunities for improving energy efficiency and conservation within Hartley Bay.

2. Resource Monitoring

The Pembina Institute installed stream flow monitors in two locations along the local Gabion River and recorded data for a 12-month period, enabling our team to assess the feasibility of the suggested hydro power project locations.

3. Pre-Feasibility Study

The stream flow data helped determine which location along the Gabion River would generate the most power. Impacts to the fishery were also taken into consideration to determine which of the options would be most desirable based on both the community's preferences and a cost assessment.

4. Fishery Impacts

During the pre-feasibility study, community members expressed concern regarding the potential impact of a hydropower project on salmon entering the Gabion River and the lower lake, below which natural barriers exist to prevent further migration. Taking these concerns into account, the Pembina Institute considered hydro-electricity options that would be entirely upstream of the lake.

5. Identification of Renewable Energy Options

The resource monitoring and pre-feasibility study, combined with the results of the energy baseline and demand forecasting, enabled our team to identify three options for Hartley Bay's hydro-electric project: Two locations on the Gabion River provided sufficient generating capacity to meet Hartley Bay's electricity demands. In either of these two scenarios, the existing diesel generator would serve as a back-up system for the hydro projects. A third, lower capital cost option of building a smaller hydro system could be applied to either location, but this would require the community to run the diesel generator more often to make up the supply gap between the hydro electricity generated by the smaller system and the electricity demand from the community.

Additional Partners

Two additional partners were involved in the project:

Sigma Engineering participated in the stream flow data analysis and performed the pre-feasibility analysis of the hydro system options. Sigma Engineering is partnering with Gitga'at Nation in the current phase of constructing the hydro generator.

P O Sjöman Hydrotech Consulting performed the preliminary scoping to determine the most suitable locations along Gabion River for a hydro plant.

For more information on the services we offer to aboriginal communities, contact

Tim Weis, P.Eng.

• Senior Technical & Policy Advisor
• Email: timw(at)pembina.org
  Phone: 780-485-9610 Ext. 103