To the editor,
Re: Electricity has to be affordable as part of energy transition, Letters, May 31.
The first letter writer talks about electricity being affordable. It got a bad reputation for being not affordable because of those inefficient baseboard heating units which many older homes have. I just converted from those to a heat pump in my condo, and my energy bill has gone significantly down this year. It went down so fast that I’ve had two free months from my monthly payments in less than a year. Those heat pumps heat or cool all the space and do it more efficiently and more comfortably.
To the second letter writer, I say that Fortis has spent millions of dollars convincing us that methane gas is clean and cheap. These are myths. When I looked into Fortis a little over a year ago, they were using between one and five per cent renewable methane. They were buying offsets to make their claims. Offsets often prove to be unreal. Burning methane produces CO2 and leaked methane is a worse greenhouse gas. Methane leaks at the mining stage, the pipeline stage, and the burning stage are a big problem. The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment says that methane and climate change are both a great risk to human health.
Yes, we will have big issues keeping our grid clean and cheap. Why isn’t B.C. Hydro putting more wind and solar in the mix? They are the cheapest form of energy we could produce.
Frances Deverell, Nanaimo
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