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Alta states: The Fitz Creek run-of-river project

W/B’s first real steps up the sustainability stairway
1539alta
Hydro Power In an average year, the power that can be harnessed from Fitzsimmons Creek is equal to that of Whistler-Blackcomb operations

“It’s really a simple equation. How we deal with environmental issues today will determine how we survive as a species in the future.”

– Arthur DeJong

As Kermit the Frog used to say: “It’s not easy being green.” Just ask Arthur DeJong…

“I don’t believe, fundamentally, in ‘marketing’ our environmental initiatives,” says Whistler-Blackcomb’s tireless eco-prophet. “To me, it’s simply our responsibility as stewards of this land to add value to the assets placed under our control.”

He pauses. Searches carefully for his next words. “The earth’s ecosystems are in decline. And that decline is exponential. That’s why it’s so important to do everything we can to protect those natural assets under our care. To then turn around and pat ourselves on the back publicly for doing what we need to do — well, that kind of bugs me…”

That said, even the most committed environmentalist must make deals with the devil to get some of those life-changing initiatives to come true. “Our environmental conscience is growing,” says DeJong. “It’s a journey. And it’s a journey up a long, steep, grinding and difficult stairway. Given that we’re barely on the first steps of that journey, I think it’s perfectly okay to encourage each other — at least a little bit.”

And then he laughs. “I just hope it doesn’t take six years to get the next ‘green’ project up and running,” he says. “After all, if you take that stairway metaphor a little further, when it comes to saving the environment, we’re walking when we should be running!”

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Last week, W/B announced that the long-awaited run-of-river hydro project on Fitzsimmons Creek had finally been given the go-ahead. What makes the project most interesting to me is that at buildout, the energy produced will provide B.C. Hydro with 33.5 gigawatt hours of power yearly, just about exactly what W/B uses annually to run its operation.

This is great news. Moreover, it’s exactly the kind of initiative that Whistlerites need to hear about to illustrate that there is no single silver bullet that will solve all our carbon-burning issues. Rather, it’s the sum of initiatives like the Fitz run-of-river (plus geothermal, plus wind, plus solar plus whatever) that will make the whole alternative power grid in the corridor greater — and more effective — over the long run.

And yet, and yet, if it hadn’t been for DeJong and his team, that particular project probably would have been quashed long ago….

“Now you’re making me sound like the hero in the piece,” complains the notorious self-effacing Whistlerite. “And that’s not the case at all. This was a project with a huge slate of heroes — the Whistler 2020 advisory groups, the municipality, the project’s contractor, Ledcor CMI Limited, and my own bosses at W/B — not to mention the hardworking guys and gals on my staff. Pretty much everyone got on board with this project.”

Still, Arthur has been filling my ears about this project for nearly 10 years now. And I can tell you, faithful Alta States reader, that there were moments during that decade when despair ruled; moments when both of us truly thought this initiative was headed for the trash heap. But Arthur just wouldn’t let it go. Were it not for his stubborn streak of optimism and his hardnosed Dutch work ethic, the Fitz initiative could have easily gone the way of another missed opportunity. “This was a project that couldn’t fail,” counters DeJong. “At least, this was a project that I couldn’t let fail. It was just too great an opportunity to let slip through our fingers, I mean, if not this one, then what?”

Meaning? “Look, the Fitz is already a working river — and a working river producing below its potential. The usual issues that run-of-river critics usually bring up don’t really apply to Fitzsimmons Creek. People don’t kayak on it and they don’t fish there. And given its location at the very heart of our operation, its vertical drop, and its strong seasonal water flow, it has all the features needed for a demonstrably successful venture!”

More importantly — at least for Arthur — is that the Fitz initiative is a bricks and mortar project that he can show the more skeptical members of his team and prove to them that they are actually making progress up that creaky environmental stairway.

“When I look at my staff,” he says, “I see lots of hands-on folk, you know, mechanics and millwrights and electricians and carpenters. I can talk about carbon offsets and carbon taxes, but they still look at me with a suspicious eye.” He laughs. “There is a lot of uncertainty out there. But with this project, they can actually put their hands on it and assess it and see it working. To them, it makes a lot more sense…”

Arthur’s run-of-river energy quest started back in the late 1990s. “It was at that point,” recounts DeJong, “that we started taking inventory of our physical plant. And that’s when I realized that our best opportunity for helping us to shift over from fossil fuel dependence was exactly what made us such a great ski area — our vertical drop and the amount of water flow in our creeks.” Another burst of self-deprecating laughter. “At first it was pretty much intuitive. I didn’t have the engineering background to figure out all the details. I just felt that this was an obvious place to start…”

A company man at heart — and loyal to a fault — Arthur feels he has to shift a little glory to his lifelong employer at this point in the story. “It was about that time,” he tells me, “that W/B started to get serious about reducing its energy and carbon footprint through conservation efforts. We approached renewable energy generation with a two-pronged strategy. First: we would develop small, micro-type renewable energy projects that we could do ourselves without financial risk. Second: we would find partners with technical and financial expertise for the bigger, commercial-type projects.”

He smiles. “Additionally, the company became increasingly convinced that these types of projects would enhance our brand as a global environmental leader.” He doesn’t say it of course, but the person doing the convincing was DeJong himself. So I call him on it.

“Okay. You got me on that one,” he concedes. “But I knew enough about the company by then to know that if I could convince my bosses that it made good business sense to go green, then it would be much easier to get the things done that needed to get done…”

Fair enough.

By 2001, Arthur and his colleagues began hearing rumours that B.C. Hydro was interested in buying energy from independent power projects. “That’s when things started to gel for us,” explains DeJong. “We decided to go with Ledcor as our strategic partner in this project due to their financial depth and technical know-how.” By the summer of 2002, the technical, approval and financial processes were all in place. Arthur was confident that construction would begin in early 2003.

Sometimes stuff happens for no reason. Sometimes the gods fail to smile. Whatever. In July of 2003, Vancouver won the bid to host the 2010 Games. And Arthur’s dream of a quick enviro victory on the Fitz went sliding down the hill with it.

Alas, this column is just not long enough to address the Byzantine arrangements that ensued. Let’s just say that Arthur lost a little more hair in trying to walk the fine line between W/B’s needs, VANOC’s demands and his environmental conscience. “There were definitely some dark days there,” is all he’ll say about the Olympic sliding venue’s shift of location, its conflict with the proposed alignment of the run-of-river penstock and Ledcor’s decision to drop out of the project because it was no longer financially viable.

It was when Terasen started sniffing around the project, says DeJong, that he really became intimate with the numbers. “That’s when I realized how difficult it was to make those numbers work,” he says. And another potential partner declined to get involved.

But DeJong and his team didn’t give up. Good thing too. For by the fall of 2006, an energy-desperate B.C. Hydro had come back with a new call for tender that included a far better rate of return for power generated by independent producers. “That’s when Ledcor came back into the picture,” Arthur tells me. “They still thought the project might struggle with a marginal return. But they figured that its proximity to Whistler, the Games, and all its ancillary benefits would add value to their company.”

The rest was easy…

Unlike many of his W/B colleagues, DeJong seems completely open to sharing his ideas with outsiders. He’s not defensive. Nor aggressive. Au contraire . “I know there are a lot of people in the corridor who may be a touch sensitive when it comes to run-of-the-river projects,” he admits. “And I’d like to hear from them. Better yet — if they have concerns or questions, they should contact me directly. I’d love to give them a tour…”

Is Arthur serious? Does he really want me to put that in the story? “Absolutely,” he answers. “In my personal path up this long and tenuous stairway, I’ve learned most from my critics.” He smiles. Winks at me knowingly. “And I need to keep learning…”