A high-energy battle is shaping up over electricity production as British Columbia's main political parties start campaigning in earnest for next month's provincial election.
The Liberals have accused the New Democratic Party of misleading the public with campaign advertising attacking independent power projects.
A moratorium on private power projects is a key plank in the NDP platform.
Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom says the Campbell government doesn't plan to privatize BC Hydro, as the NDP claims.
"Today we have 32 run-of-the-river projects in B.C. Over half of those were approved by the previous NDP government," Lekstrom said, referring to Michael Harcourt's call for small hydro projects and private investment in 1992.
NDP energy critic John Horgan says the problem is the reduced role BC Hydro has in electrical generation: It's now required to buy new power from independent producers.
"The notion that somehow BC Hydro no longer has the capacity to develop micro-hydro projects is where the government, I think, went off the rails," Horgan said last week.
British Columbia voters go to the polls on May 12.
