Residential Electricity - Supply

Electricity is vital to the continued health of B.C.’s economy, communities, and resource industries. British Columbia is fortunate to have an abundant and varied supply of clean, affordable and renewable electricity that provides reliable, low cost electricity while minimizing impact on B.C.'s environment.

British Columbia currently generates more electricity than is used in-province, and over 95% of that electricity is clean and renewable.

Electricity Supply

To understand how much electricity we will need in the future, electric utilities make forecasts that consider the following:

• Weather patterns
• Population growth
• Economic growth
• Changes in technology (increased use of electronic devices)

There are over 100 facilities that provide electricity to homes and businesses across the province, but it still takes many years to plan and build new transmission and generation resources.

B.C. trades electricity on the open market. Powerex - BC Hydro’s trading subsidiary - is an active participant in the United States and Alberta markets in accordance with its National Energy Board (NEB) license and US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorizations. On average, Powerex's net income is approximately $125 million per year which benefits BC Hydro's rate payers.

Learn more about Canada's NEB electricity import and export statistics.