Williams Lake mayor and council may be taking a road trip to Victoria soon, if they don't see more done to address the potential closure of Atlantic Power's Williams Lake Project.
An update on the possible closure of the power plant from the city's economic development officer, Beth Veenkamp, has the council concerned as the deadline for revoking a termination of contract notice looms.
"Things are not looking good," reported Veenkamp at the regular council meeting at city hall on Aug. 27.
She said there are several hurdles still to overcome if the Williams Lake facility is to remain operating.
She said Atlantic Power felt the options the province put forward so far don't come fast enough to get them through 2025 without operating at a loss. This means the notice the company gave in February which would see the plant close in January 2025 is still in effect. The last day for Atlantic Power to rescind their notice of intent for contract termination is Oct. 15.
“I believe we’ll be coming down the the wire on this one," said Veenkamp.
"At the moment, optimism is low," she said, noting the city hopes some of the First Nation communities whose businesses will be impacted by the closure will add their voices to the call for a solution.
Williams Lake is looking at what more they can do to try and increase pressure on the provincial government to work harder to find a way to keep Atlantic Power's Williams Lake Project operating past January 2025.
Mayor Surinderpal Rathor said the problem for the plant is both the lack of affordable fibre, and the current deal with BC Hydro. He called seven First Nation chiefs in the area and asked them to weigh in on the issue.
Councillor Scott Nelson called for strong leadership from the premier's office and requested a special council meeting to address the issue, emphasizing the importance of the plant as the city's largest single taxpayer. Nelson's sister-in-law Frankie Nelson is also the on-site business manager of the Williams Lake facility.
Rathor said he wouldn't want to wait for a special council meeting due to the tight timeline, and instead invited the rest of council to join him in driving to the premier's office to raise the issue in person.
“Whatever we have to do, we’ll do it,” said Rathor.
A tri-ministry working group including the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation and the Ministry of Forests was formed in June to explore short-and long-term solutions for the challenges the company faces.
The Atlantic Power Williams Lake Project is a 66 MW biomass-fired generating facility which burns mill wood waste and roadside logging debris to create electricity. The plant began construction in 1991 and began operating in 1993 and helped address the air quality concerns in the community resulting from the use of inefficient beehive burners to eliminate mill waste.
Editor's note: This story was updated to include more of the reason Atlantic Power has so far not agreed to the province's terms.
