Castlegar’s Celgar is fighting to sell excess “green” power

Celgar near Castlegar, B.C., is one of the largest and most modern pulp mills in North America. —

Photo courtesy Mercer International

The Business in Vancouver newspaper is reporting that Celgar, located just north of Castlegar, is fighting with BC Hydro over the sale of excess power to Fortis BC—BC Hydro’s main competitor.

The article states, “that the pulp mill's ability to sell "green" power to BC Hydro at premium rates is the subject of a $250 million arbitration claim that's been filed against the Government of Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Vancouver-based Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC), which owns the 439-employee Celgar pulp mill, claims BC Hydro and the province have discriminated against it by preventing the mill from selling its biomass-produced power into the grid as other mills throughout the province do.

Brian Merwin, Mercer's vice-president strategic initiatives, explained that in 2008 BC Hydro intervened to block an agreement between Celgar and FortisBC, the province's other utility, that would have allowed Celgar to buy cheap power through FortisBC and sell its green co-generation power to third parties such as BC Hydro at higher market rates.

Merwin said that decision, which was supported by the provincial government, has put Celgar at a competitive disadvantage when compared with other pulp mills in the province that generate power and sell it into BC Hydro's grid.”

Read the whole story at: http://bit.ly/J67t4Y