By Lew GRIFFITH
Publisher,
Prince George Citiien

A dream , eer a figment- of
_ Imagination. , , throwing money
down the drain, These were the
_ things they said, “They”? were
‘the wise acres, the’ experts,
the people with the answers
-who loudly and most publicly pro-
. elaimed: the folly of the Peace,
: Grids ‘Were the thing and the
most: sensible: way to develop
.-@ grid that would protect the
lower mainland area and most
of the Pacific Northwest. was
ire developraent o| of the Ccolum=
fa

General McNaughton, an ad~
visor to the federal government,

. Was a leader of the Columbia
advocates, ‘And he wasnot aione,
Back in those early years when
the electrical tie-in between
British Columbia and the State
of Washington was being de-
-veloped. any ‘venture that would
take hydro expansion some 800
. tailes into the mid-northern wil-

‘derness of B,C, was unthinkable,
’ ‘Of course -there was: the
Wenner-Gren scheme, - but few
took the visionary from Scan-
dinavia seriously, The idea of a
monorail and the Rocky Moun-
tain’ trench as a new Utlopla
was @ little far out,

In a more modest way the
Pacific Great Eastern Railway
is now doing a very. adequate
job = in developing one of the
richest. areas this province
can boast,

Despite the criticism Premier
W,AC,. Bennett remained ad-
amant in his decision’ to de-
velop the Peace, Stubborn man}
that he is, he won his case, The|
winning encompassed the demise!

GRIFFITH

of the old British Columbia Elec-
tric Company and an expansion
‘of the British Columbia Hydro
Authority beyond, the wildest
dreams of the government when

the Hydro Authority was first|~

established,

On Saturday. our Premier will
throw the switch that puts
the generators into, motion and
Sends power surging over the

transmission lines: thet make| |

giant. seven-leazue - boot jumps
across the forbidding terrain
between the lonely Peace and
the lower mainland,

‘BASE LOAD .

Theowing the switch ‘will do
aven more, It will alleviate the

LINE PART

“The 575-mtle-long trans-
mission line from the Peace
project to the B,C, Lower

- Mainland will form the back-
bone for a major new provin-
- efal power grid, .

While most of the power
from the Peace River will be
destined for the Lower Main-
land, major substations are -
being erected at Prince
George and Kelly Lake, near
Clinton, to tap Peace power
for delivery to other parts of
the province.

From . Prince George,
‘smaller transmission Hnes

are being extenced in dif-

OF ‘GRID’

ferent directions to feed
power to fast-growing forest
and mining industries,

Over the next few years,
a major transmission line
will be extendedfrom Prince
George through the Bulkley
Valley to Prince Rupert — a
distance of 367 miles,

Another powerline will
.take Peace power fromKelly
Lake to Kamloops and on to
the Okanagan Valley, com-.
pleting the interconnection of-
all the major areas.of the
- BC, Hydro system into a
single provice-wide grid

as the Bridge River, | “whieh has
been called upon to: feed power
both north and south inthetrans«
mission period’ required to bring
the Peace on stream,

During the-len yearsand more
that have transpired since the vi-
sion of the Peace central British
Columbia has blossomed,

It to6k only the substantiated
promise of adequate bulk power

to bring the: pulp development |-

which. now | exists {n Prince

George, To the west Lines liave-

been strung to trigger the molyb-
denum Production from Endako
mine,

And those seven- “league - tow-
ers are continulig’ stili further
west until eventually they. will

_ Sonnect with the power belngde- ['
veloped by the Aluminum Com-

pany, of Canatla* from is plant
at. Kemano,’

So the name ‘of the game is
grid, :

~ GRID GAME.

As of gaturdiay,” September
28, we will hava 6. grid -that
wilt equal and possibly sur
pass the erid that tes Toronto,
‘New York-and all the’ other
eastern areas served by the
vast Niagra’. hydro chain,
To those of us ‘who believe
in the future ‘of central British
Columbia, the opening of the
Peace power project is a dream
come true,

initial output. from ‘the. new
Bennett Dam generators | will

_| Supply our needs, But even now

it seems ‘that- further expan-
sion will be required before we
will be able to supply the sur-
plus needed to repay our fellow

| British Columbians to the south,

who have been power-pinched in
meeting our burgeoning deniands,

MORE COMING

There will be more generators
added to the Peate project, After
all only the initial potential of
that magnificent-stream has been

| tapped, But already it has spure

red a development that is une
eqtalled in _the annals of Can-
ada

With. pulp mills scheduled for
the Mackenzle area and the
mining development to the west
in the Babine country, who knows?
Central British Columbla’ can
easily become the aconomic

hub of the provinceas wellas the
; geographic hub, :

as

tremendous load that has: heen at
.Placed on existing’ facilities such |:

Site of W. A. C. Bennett Dam at top, prior to rerouting
of Peace River through three 48-foot-diameter diversion
Y tunnels in September, 1963, », and, below, completed dam
. anaes a a eee Pe =f et

. Valley:

from downstream.

One of thé world’s largest dams, it
is 600 feet high and extends ma mniles across Peace River

1956 Provincial soverem
thorized. search’ for

north - central: British oe
tumbla, *
1959 Focus “narrowed upon “Port

age Mountain as best of 11.

- potential development” sites”
on Peace River:
1961 B.C, Energy Boardrepdrted
that new generating facilities
would be needed to mect pow=
er requirements: by the: -late.
1960s,
B,C, Hydra ‘and Power "Aus
thority created: and given
task of developing Peace Rie
ver power project,
First construction begun: .
access roads and bridge, and
pilot ‘tunnel for ‘diversion
scheme.

{1962 Construction ‘of ’ diversion

tunnels begun,
No-strike, no- lockout con-

tract signed for all work on
project, .
1963 River ve-routed through al
version tunnels leaving riv-
erbed dry at damsite,
Contract. awarded ‘for ‘con-
struction of W.A,C, Bennett
pani preliminary work be-

1964 econveyor system placed in
operation of bring fill mater-
ial to damsite; placing of fill
begun.

1965 Contract awarded to build
Portage Mountain. Generat-
ing Station,

Contracts awarded to supply
first five’ turbines and gener-
ators,

Work begun on powerhouse,
penstocks, and transmission
line to carry power to central
and southern British Colum-
bia,

1966 Contract awarded. to build
spillway and low level ouf-
lets,

Contract. awarded to build
central control building and
switchyards,

1967 Construction peak reached;
4,800 men employed,

WAC, Bennett Dam. com-
pleted and dedicated,

First turbines and genera-
tors installed in Portage
Mountain Generating Station,

1968 Diversiontumnels closed and
converted tolow level outlets. -
Storage of water begun in
reservoir behind W, A.C.
Bennett Dam. ;
aeansmisston | line comple-

ed
. Phrst power generated),

nn

it, reflected i in “such major undertakings as.
the: edce and Columbia. River hydroelectric .

i L 1952, British Columbia had apie assets of
$188 3,106, 000—and.a. net debt of $222,454,000. -

period.

‘million to’ $281. 5 million during the same

1 AS the development of our resources generates -

“debt 4 has been, totally abolished. As a. a result oe
Vital’ public’ services have ‘enjoyed vastly: n-
creased support, The Provincial contribution:
to education has risen from $18.2 million:in
the fiscal year 1951/52 to an estimated $275
“million for.the current fiscal year. Health and =.
welfare: expenditures have increased from $57; 8.

/ HEALTH AND WELFARE
- , $57.8 36.3%

1951/52]
$359.1 MILLION

HIGHWAYS

woe 7

- EDUCATION:
“$275.0 31.8% ©

“2 1968/69
$866. O-MILLION