One-year delay of Site C dam project would cost $630 million: BC Hydro
VICTORIA — A one-year delay in the construction of the Site C hydroelectric dam would cost $630 million, the president of BC Hydro said Wednesday as uncertainty surrounds the project with the New Democrats poised to form a minority government in British Columbia.
Jessica McDonald said bids for contracts for the realignment of a highway are set to go out June 15 and a bridge construction tender is scheduled to be issued at the beginning of July. She said two homes — one owned by local farmers and the other a rental property — are in the direct path of the dam.
“We’re up against a hard deadline,” McDonald told a briefing to update progress on the $8.8-billion project.
“This is a two-year project to actually construct the highway and the bridge,” McDonald said. “There’s nothing you can do about the hard deadline of the river diversion.”