B.C. eyes two new hydropower dams, including Site E near Alberta border, Dix says

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government is looking at building two new hydroelectric dams, including a fourth dam for the Peace River where the Site C project generated opposition and cost overruns.

The so-called Site E project would have a capacity of up to 750 megawatts, while a project near Bute Inlet northeast of Powell River would be bigger at 900 megawatts.

Energy Minister Adrian Dix said Monday that the province is “seriously” re-examining the plan for a Site E dam at the confluence of the Peace and Alces rivers amid growing demand for electricity that the government said in a news release was projected to grow 20 per cent by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2050.

The Site E dam was originally proposed in 1958, along with four other Peace River sites, including the recently completed Site C project, which is now known as the John Horgan Dam. That massive dam has a capacity of up to 1,230 megawatts.

This isn’t an announcement that the Site E or Bute Inlet projects will go ahead, and instead technical work will determine whether they can or should proceed, Dix said.

“And B.C.’s strength is clean electricity. And so, we need to explore large hydro projects and take the steps to look at these options in the technical sense that we need,” he said in an interview.

Dix said other renewable projects, including geothermal power, are also being considered.

There’s been two decades of flat load growth at BC Hydro, Dix said, but they’re expecting to see a dramatic increase in economic activity in B.C. and power will be needed.

“We are just looking at it seriously, and we hope, and I think, that’s consistent with our plan to power B.C.’s economy,” he said.

After winning the 2017 election, Horgan’s NDP government considered cancelling the Site C dam, but it concluded that work on the project it had heavily criticized while in opposition was too far along.

The dam cost $16 billion, almost double the original estimate of $8.8 billion in 2014.

Premier David Eby announced last month that the dam would be named after Horgan, who passed away from cancer in 2024.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press