BC Hero - Hupacasath Chief Judith Sayers

Interview with Judith Sayers

Judith is the elected Chief of Hupacasath First Nations. As elected Chief, she oversees all business, governance, administration and financial issues along with the elected council.

The interview was conducted on November 28th by Heather Rock, Dogwood Initiative volunteer and student in the faculty of Forestry at Univ. of British Columbia.

Heather Rock: Can you tell me about one of your community’s achievements?

Judith Sayers: We have developed an independent power project (IPP), on China Creek, that produces 6.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to meet the needs for 6,000 homes. It is a run of the river project; water runs down a penstock 4.5 km in length with enough head to power the turbines at the base. Creating energy in this way is non-consumptive and low impact. The energy generated is then sold to BC Hydro under a 20 year contract.

Construction lasted for 13 months; it was quite an undertaking to bury the pipe for the penstock which is 5ft in diameter. China Creek flows to Alberni Inlet where there is a set of impassible falls that inhibit salmon passage.

The lack of salmon made the site an even better option for the project because fisheries resources are also very important to our community. The water shed has resident dolly varden and non native rainbow trout are present however the area is very nutrient limited and individuals only reach a size of 4 inches, so the fisheries resource is minimal. We set the mean annual discharge to 15% of annual flow at to reduce and any impacts on fish, as a result no compensation was needed.

HR: Why did you get involved?

JS: Four years ago BC Hydro proposed a gas power generation plant in Port Alberni. Hupacasath participated in the environmental assessment process that they worked to push a stage two Review which rarely happens.

The city of Port Alberni refused to rezoned the proposed area and the project did not proceed. During the environmental assessment process Hupacasath, along with other groups had concerns with air quality.

We decided that we did not just want to say “not in my backyard” and be part of the problem but be a part of the solution. So, we looked at all forms of green energy available and at the set of resources available in our territory.

We tried wind power but it was not successful. We settled on small scale hydro.

Our project is unique in that Port Alberni has a monitoring station on the creek with ten years of water flow data. This allowed us to prove that we had the flow was great enough to generate the amount of power we wanted. This was huge because no pilot study was needed, usually two to three years of data must be collected before you can get a good idea of what the flow is like.

Another benefit of the selected project location is that the land is privately owned by Island Timber and Timber West who had an already established road network. This greatly reduced the number of roads we had to build reducing our impact on the landscape. Also, there was a three phase power connection located on a gravel pit edge nearby  where we were locating the powerhouse, and  we had no problem connecting to the grid.

HR: Who are you working with? 

JS: Hupacasath were the project developers and we took the lead on the feasibility study. We formed the company Upnit in order to get equity partners for investment.

Hupacasath First Nation owns 72.%%, Ucluelet First Nations was brought in for 10%. Synex Energy out of Vancouver owns 12.5%, they also served as experts on our board and on the project team. The city of Port Alberni owns 5%.

This was a good business decision in that it ensured co-operation and they assisted in obtaining the water license. All of the funding provided was federal as there is a lack of support from municipal and provincial governments in spending taxpayers dollars on these kinds of projects. Overall it was a huge learning experience.

HR: How has this affected your community and their environment?

JS: If the natural gas plant had been built 31 kilotonnes of green house gases (using best practices) would be emitted yearly. This is equivalent to keeping eight-thousand cars off the road.

HR: How did this achievement make you feel?

JS: Very important. Vancouver Island imports 90% of its energy needs by means of underwater cables. This is an issue because the cables are old and need replacement.

We had to be creative in finding money for these projects, securing funding was a big achievement. Indian and Northern Affairs equity program gave two-million [dollars] in matching equity funds, we also received one quarter of a million from the federal governments Aboriginal Climate Change program.

Through the Softwood Initiative that was put in place to alleviate loss of jobs, Western Diversification lent nine hundred and forty-five thousand dollars as a loan with favourable payback terms. Steven Owen,  Minister of Western Economic Diversification, played a big role in helping us obtain funding. 

VanCity Capital did the debt syndicate by speaking to BC Credit Unions. Most of the Credit Unions were not familiar with green energy projects and learned about them before investing.  They are now open to fund other Small Hydro projects. 

Having a 20 year Electricity Purchase Agreement with BC Hydro certainly helped obtain debt equity. Another achievement was the creation of a community energy plan; we wanted to get an estimate of our own energy consumption. 

Our community only has 50 homes; the rest of the power generated is sold to grid. We wanted to know what our community’s energy uses and needs were and how to be more efficient in the future.  It gave us a plan on how to do things differently.

HR: What is one of the biggest problems you encountered? 

JS: Finding the equity we needed when we are a poor community.  Also getting people to believe in the project. There are not a lot of funding options available, but we were successful.

HR: What lessons have you learned?

JS: Anything is possible if you have a good support network and good relations with people.

Good relationships within and outside the community, as well as with governments. If you have everyone helping you, you will make it.

From the creation of Upnit, to getting financing this project is a huge achievement. This is one solution to climate change and Upnit now has plans to undertake similar projects.

HR: What advice would you share with other communities?

JS: To find the best project possible and the best people to work with contractors, engineers, and lawyers. Surround yourself with supportive people. That is the key to your success in getting a project off the ground.

HR: What is your biggest achievement?

JS: That we even did it. Not only that but, on time, on schedule and on budget.

There is so much uncertainty with these projects especially when constructing pipelines below ground. There are many difficulties with construction, stakeholder and financial issues. Many other projects have not been built.

When we applied for a water license there were thirty-three applications. Only three received water licenses. We are proof that it can be done.

The Hupacasath and Judith recently won a major court victory in their lawsuit against the government's decsion to approve the removal of 70,000 from TFL 44. This decision creates a precedant that could inhibit the privatization of land.

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