The First Nations Climate Initiative plans to highlight progress it has made on the construction of renewable energy network in northwest B.C. at the United Nations Climate Conference Conference (COP29).
The organization, also referred to as FNCI, is going to their third straight UN climate conference as a part of Canada's delegation, this time in Baku, Azerbaijan, a country off the coast of the Caspian Sea.
FNCI plans to call on the B.C. and federal governments to make policy and regulatory changes that enable large net-zero infrastructure projects, boost economic development for B.C. and Canada through partnerships, and further reconciliation with First Nations. They have several detailed goals for the global summit taking place between Nov. 11 - Nov. 22, most of which can be found in the Climate Action Plan on their website.
In 2022, BC Hydro proposed a 500 kilovolt (kV), transmission line between Prince George and Terrace to meet the clean energy demands of northwest B.C. The North Coast Electrification project would be built in two phases or as two separate projects.
The Prince George to Glenannan Transmission Project, or PGGT, would be a 170 km line from Williston to Glenannan substation. The Glenannan to Terrace Transmission Project, or GTTT, would be a 130 km line from Glenanna substation to Telkwa substation and 145 km from Telkwa substation to Skeena substation.
These projects would also include additional infrastructure, such as a fibre optic cable, expansion of capacitor stations through the Prince George to Terrace Capacitors Project, or PGTC, and upgrades or expansion of substations.
Their proposed schedule for the PGGT line to be in operation is by 2030 and the GTTT line is proposed to be in operation by 2032.
BC Hydro has worked with First Nations to identify leading routes for each project, prioritizing route options that are within existing BC Hydro rights-of-way or parallel to them to mitigate potential impacts.
Chief Wes Sam of the Ts’il kaz Koh First Nation and chair of K’uul Power+, shared that these projects need to be owned, wholly or in part, by the Nations who are affected. Sam is a part of the Canadian delegation at COP29.
K'uul Power+ was formed in October 2023 to support First Nations who wanted to work together to build these two projects, as well as, future renewable energy projects. They would prefer to be owners of the projects before they are commissioned as once they are, many of the consequential decisions would already have been made.
"We would like to see green power that is in partnership with First Nations. Right now, we're in negotiations with BC Hydro. We have a number of boards of directors and Nations working to accomplish a deal moving forward," Sam shared.
FNCI is calling on the B.C. and federal governments to "proactively invest in Indigenous-led renewable energy transmission and generation infrastructure to support the creation of a decarbonized economy in northwestern B.C."
FNCI was established in 2019 and is led by the Haisla, Metlakatla, Nisga'a and Halfway River First Nations.
The complete delegation that will represent Canada at COP29 includes: Sam; Chief Darlene Hunter of the Halfway River First Nation; David Myers, a technical representative of the Halfway River First Nation; Miles Jolliffe, advisor for the Wet’suwet’en First Nation; Robert Johnston, research director of the Center on Global Energy Policy and independent research advisor to FNCI; and Alex Grzybowski, facilitator for FNCI and CEO of K’uul Power.
