B.C. to skip environmental assessments to fast-track wind power projects

British Columbia has approved the province’s first major expansion of private power generation in more than 15 years, exempting wind power projects from environment assessments in order to bring nine large wind farms online before the end of the decade.It’s a stark contrast to Alberta’s approach to renewables and will mean as much as $6-billion in new investment to increase B.C.’s clean energy supply by 8 per cent. That’s the same amount of electricity that will be generated by BC Hydro’s $16-billion Site C hydroelectric dam, which began delivering power to the grid this fall.