Atlantic Power's Senior Vice President of Operations, Sean Gillespie, said the company sees a "clear path forward" for their Williams Lake biomass plant.
Gillespie was happy to report an agreement announced on March 7, 2025 will ensure continued renewable energy production to 2029, but did not give any details of what was agreed with BC Hydro or other government entities in order for Atlantic Power to keep the biomass plant open,
The new agreement came after more than a year of uncertainty over the future of the power plant, which saw the city of Williams Lake focused on saving their largest single taxpayer.
"Everybody stood with us," said Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor, who had said it was the most time he had ever spent on one issue. Rathor was expressing his gratitude for the broad support and work by the province to push to get BC Hydro to the table to secure a deal.
"It's a great feeling to have that issue resolved," he said.
While Rathor admitted it required a lot of time and attention to push for the negotiations, he said now the city will need to "diversify our industrial tax pie" in order to ensure the city won't face the same issue in the future.
"I'm not afraid of working hard," said Rathor, noting how many industries have changed a lot in the city over the past decades, with technology reducing the number of jobs associated with many industrial processes.
"As everything else changes, we have to change. The leaders of today have to be prepared for anything and everything," he said.
In response to rumours the biomass plant, which burns wood waste to generate electricity to sell to BC Hydro, would be burning rail ties as a source of inexpensive fuel, Gillespie said the plant has "no plans to use them as fuel in the foreseeable future."
"We are actively managing fibre supply and remain focused on securing sustainable fuel sources through 2029," he said.
Gillespie also expressed gratitude to the city of Williams Lake, the Cariboo Regional District, the Williams Lake and District Chamber of Commerce, Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson, local First Nation partners and other stakeholders for supporting the plant's push for a new agreement.
"Their efforts were instrumental in securing this outcome, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the community," said Gillespie.
Atlantic Power had given a notice to end their contract with BC Hydro citing the plant was no longer financially viable under their previous agreement with BC Hydro. The power plant was under a contract set to last until 2029 which they said had the plant operating at a loss.
Issues which the plant pushed to have addressed included a financial penalty if the plant operated any less than nine months of the year, a lack of economical fibre, and a low rate for the power they sold to BC Hydro.
The biomass plant produces 66 Megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 50,000 homes and pays an estimated $1.7 million in taxes and utilities to the city.
Atlantic Power's Williams Lake operation was the focus of a similar push to secure a 10-year agreement for the plant back in 2019, with then Mayor Walt Cobb, Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars and Paul French, as United Steelworkers Union Local 1-2017 vice president, all meeting with then Premier John Horgan.
Current mayor and council had approved the funds for the city to send another delegation to Victoria in February but Mayor Rathor said he was relieved to have not had to make the trip and spend the city's money, after Premier David Eby and Adrian Dix, Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions, promised talks would take place between BC Hydro and Atlantic Power.
"With God's grace we managed to resolve the issue without going to Victoria," he said, celebrating the thousands of dollars in savings for the taxpayers.
