B.C. must learn from previous dams before starting new ones, says environmentalist

An environmental group is condemning plans by the British Columbia government to look into building two new hydropower dams, including a fourth dam on the Peace River.

Joe Foy with the Wilderness Committee says damming and diverting big rivers has big negative impacts, which continue far into the future.

He says the effects of the recently completed John Horgan Dam on the Peace River include massive cost overruns leading to public debt, huge losses of farmland and wildlife habitat and unacceptable impacts to Indigenous human rights.

Energy Minister Adrian Dix announced on Monday that B.C. is “seriously” looking into plans for dams at another Peace River site known as Site E near the border with Alberta, as well as Bute Inlet on the provincial mainland.

The Site E project at the confluence of the Peace and Alces rivers would have a capacity of up to 750 megawatts, while the Bute Inlet project northwest of Powell River would be bigger at 900 megawatts.

Dix says B.C. needs the additional power to meet growing demand.

But Foy says building new two dams would further diminish wildlife populations and trust in government decisions. 

“B.C. needs to hold its horses on moving forward with more dams on more rivers until it comes to grip with the damages caused by Site C, which are many and varied,” Foy says, referring to the site of the John Horgan Dam.

“The people of the province need time to reflect on the scope of negative impacts and lessons learned.”

Foy says the province pitched Site C as a clean power source for homes and local businesses, but evidence now shows the dam, which has a capacity of up to 1,230 megawatts, was built to power liquefied natural gas projects.

BC Hydro has said the Site C dam would have been required with or without an LNG sector, but also says that new LNG facilities are expected to accelerate the need for more power-generation. 

Dix said Monday’s announcement does not mean that both projects are going ahead, adding that technical work will determine whether they can or should proceed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2026.

By Wolfgang Depner | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.