B.C.'s Energy Minister Adrian Dix Thursday announced that his government will table legislation that will move the approval of renewable energy projects under the authority of BC Energy Regulator.

The independent agency currently regulates projects in the following areas: oil and gas; liquefied natural gas; geothermal; hydrogen and major projects such as major pipelines. 

"The legislation is about advancing growth and diversity in the clean energy sector and ensuring that we are building a sustainable clean economy," Dix said. 

Dix made the announcement in Vancouver, where Chris O'Riley, president and CEO of BC Hydro, Michelle Carr, commissioner and CEO of the BC Energy Regulator and Kwatuuma Cole Sayers, executive director of Clean Energy BC, joined him. 

The change means that a single authority, rather than multiple ministries, will sign off on future wind and solar projects, including nine wind-energy and one solar-energy projects that appear on a 香蕉视频直播減reliminary香蕉视频直播� list of resource projects the province indicated would be be fast-tracked. Government had already announced in late 2024 that it would exempt those projects from environmental assessments and Thursday's announcement would further the regulatory burden facing the projects. 

Dix said government plans to table the legislation as soon as possible once the legislature returns this month and predicts that the time-savings resulting with this and other pending changes would be measured in years. 

"No one is undermining environmental standards," Dix said. "In fact, environmental standards are high in B.C and they will continue to be high in B.C."

But B.C.'s growing population and economic activity require additional power, he continued, adding that the Environmental Assessment Act, the permitting process and various legal protections remain in place.

"But that doesn't mean that we have to take many years to go through them," Dix said. "Like I say, the permitting and assessment of a wind project shouldn't be longer than building the wind project." 

Dix also responded to criticisms from the B.C. Greens, who have described the overall list of fast-tracked projects as a "knee-jerk" reaction to the threatened Trump tariffs. The party's criticism focused in part on the inclusion of the Cedar LNG liquefied natural gas projects. 

Dix compared B.C.'s response to the threatened tariffs to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the United States interrupted shipments of masks to British Columbia. 

He said that required a response, just as the current situation response. 

"I think it's valuable not to listen to what you think people say, but to what they actually say and what Mr. Trump is actually saying is that he wants our country, our beloved Canada to become the 51st state of the United States -- that is what he saying and I prefer to take him at his word," Dix said. "We need to respond to that."

He also indirectly questioned the B.C. Greens, who accused government of repeating a "familiar colonial cycle instead of laying the foundation for a strong, diversified future economy."

Dix pointed out that First Nations hold majority ownership in two-thirds of the projects and all projects involve First Nations' engagement. "If you value reconciliation, as I do, this is an extraordinary list for British Columbia."

Dix acknowledged that the list has generated criticism from the B.C. Greens. "That's the job of the B.C. Greens to provide that criticism and I look forward to working with them. We are going to be doing a review together of CleanBC, for example." 

Ultimately, Dix said British Columbians can be proud of the First Nations' involvement in these projects. "But my task our task together is to get those projects done and built, the investment done and the wealth generated in B.C. and that is what are doing to do both." 

The proposed changes would not only impact wind and solar projects, but also the proposed North Coast Transmission Line between Prince George and Terrace and other high-voltage electricity transmission projects with an eye toward meeting higher power needs from population growth, but also industry needs, especially in the area of mining. 

Government added in its official announcement that it is not contemplating other changes to the environmental assessment for renewable energy projects and that environmental assessments would still be required for projects that exceed regulatory thresholds.