Province bypasses Utilities Commission on key certificate for Tilbury LNG project

FortisBC's liquefied natural gas production and storage facility on Tilbury Island in Delta. Photo by Handout: FortisBC

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Energy Minister Adrian Dix touted the project, which will increase the facility’s capacity to turn natural gas into LNG by 650,000 tonnes, and will upgrade the gas pipeline linking the LNG facility with the Tilbury Gate Station on River Road.

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Construction is expected to start next year and be completed by 2031.

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A second phase of the Tilbury expansion that would see the construction of a new 142,400 cubic metre storage tank, increasing the facility’s storage capacity by 2.5 times, and the expansion of liquefaction capacity by an additional 2.5 million tonnes, is still under environmental review.

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Unlike LNG Canada in Kitimat or Cedar LNG in Squamish, the Tilbury facility primarily provides LNG for ships at the Port of Vancouver and is not meant to be exported to Asia or elsewhere around the world.

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“We’re talking about a $2.2 billion investment at a time when it’s important in this world that we invest in our capacity here, in our sovereignty here in B.C. and in Canada,” said Dix.

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“We’re talking about more than $800 million invested during construction alone. That’s 1,100 jobs per year during construction, $260 million in tax revenue, and $62,000 of estimated incremental natural gas per shipment that can add up to $15 million to $20 million per year for the province.”

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In separate statements, the Port of Vancouver and Seaspan said LNG has been used to fuel cruise, cargo and container ships, with fuelling starting in 2024 and 72 operations taken so far.

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To help the Tilbury project along, Dix said the government is allowing FortisBC to skip the requirement for a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the B.C. Utilities Commission.

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Usually required of any project that involves the storage or production of gas, the certificate is meant to show that there is demand for the product, that it fills a public need, and that ratepayers won’t be adversely impacted.

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Richard Mason, former chair of the Utilities Commission, said the current provincial government has made it a practice of overruling the independent oversight body on everything from environmental assessments for wind power projects to B.C. Hydro rates.

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He said the latest decision further undermines the commission’s independence and allows for the Tilbury expansion to proceed without having to prove it is the public interest.

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“I guess it’s a tradeoff on the part of the government between wanting to get a decision made quickly and to give Fortis the certainty that they can go ahead versus the public process that might assure the public it is actually in the public interest to do it,” said Mason.