Editing BC Hydro (section)

==Modern era==
[[File:Aeriel picture, Revelstoke Dam.jpg|thumb|right|[[Revelstoke Dam]] on Columbia River, BC]]
Between 1960 and 1980, BC Hydro completed six large [[hydro-electric]] generating projects. The first large dam was built on the [[Peace River (Canada)|Peace River]] near [[Hudson's Hope]]. The [[W. A. C. Bennett Dam]] was built to create an energy reservoir for the Gordon M. Shrum Generating Station, which has a capacity of 2,730 Megawatts of electric power and generated 13,810 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year on average 2012–16. When it was completed in 1968, the dam was the largest earth-fill structure ever built. The [[Williston Lake]] reservoir is the largest lake in British Columbia. A second smaller concrete dam was later built downstream, closer to Hudson's Hope for the [[Peace Canyon Dam|Peace Canyon Generating Station]] which was completed in 1980.

Under the terms of the [[Columbia River Treaty]] with the US, BC Hydro built a number of dams and hydro-electric generating stations including two large projects at [[Mica Dam|Mica]] and [[Revelstoke Dam|Revelstoke]] on the Columbia River. The [[Keenleyside Dam]] on the Columbia River north of Castlegar and the [[Duncan Dam]] north of Kootenay Lake were also built under the same treaty and are used mainly for water control. Two generators were installed at Keenleyside in 2002, though these are owned and operated by the [[Columbia Power Corporation]] (a separate Crown Corporation). [[Kootenay Canal|Kootenay Canal Generating Station]] on the [[Kootenay River]] between Nelson and Castlegar was completed in 1976. The [[Seven Mile Dam]] and Generating Station on the [[Pend d'Oreille River]] near Trail were completed in 1979.

[[File:Arrow Lakes Generating Station, British Columbia, Canada.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Hugh Keenleyside Dam]] (left) was completed in 1968. The Arrow Lakes Generating Station (right) was added in 2002.]]
In the late 1970s and early 1980s BC Hydro investigated the feasibility of geothermal power production at [[Meager Creek]], north of [[Pemberton, British Columbia|Pemberton]]. They concluded from their testing that the underground rock wasn't permeable enough to justify large-scale production of electricity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.straight.com/article/energy-firms-propose-ethanol-and-geothermal-plants-in-b-c|title=Energy Firms Propose Ethanol and Geothermal Plants in B.C.|date=22 July 2004}}</ref> Around the same time, BC Hydro initiated a project to develop a coal-fired thermal generating station at [[Hat Creek (British Columbia)|Hat Creek]] near Cache Creek, but abandoned the effort in 1981 due to strong environmental opposition.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/Coal/CoalBC/FiguresandTables/Documents/E001a.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212013724/http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/Coal/CoalBC/FiguresandTables/Documents/E001a.pdf |archive-date=2018-12-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1989 the Power Smart and Resource Smart programs were initiated by BC Hydro to promote energy conservation as an alternative to the cost of creating new generating facilities. Since 2001, BC Hydro has focused on its conservation and [[Efficient energy use|energy efficiency]] programs, re-investing in its existing facilities, and purchasing clean, [[renewable energy]] from [[Independent Power Producer]]s. According to the "British Columbia Energy Plan",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/electricity-alternative-energy/bc_energy_plan_2007.pdf|date=December 2016|title=British Columbia Energy Plan 2007}}</ref> released in 2007, BC Hydro must ensure that clean or renewable electricity generation continues to account for at least 90 percent of total generation. As of 2014, 97 percent of BC Hydro's electricity generation comes from clean or renewable sources and this generation only emits 730,000 tonnes of {{CO2}} annually from thermal plants.<ref>[http://www.bchydro.com/content/dam/BCHydro/customer-portal/documents/corporate/accountability-reports/financial-reports/annual-reports/bc-hydro-annual-report-2014.pdf]. Bchydro.com. Retrieved on 2014-07-20.</ref>