Map / Provinces / BC

British Columbia

BC Hydro; British Columbia Utilities Commission regulates rates

Effectively closed to unsolicited load: capacity is capped and allocated by competitive call, not first-come-first-served.

Publishes nothing project level. No. British Columbia has nothing comparable to AESO's monthly Connection Project List. BC Hydro operates a transmission load connection queue, its Transmission connections page states plainly 'We enter all transmission load connection requests into the connection queue in the order of requests received', but it does not publish the queue's contents.

The record

Operator detail

BC Hydro (British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority), confirmed. BC Hydro is the transmission owner/operator and the entity that studies, queues and approves large transmission-connected load in ~95% of the province. There is no independent system operator; BCTC was folded back into BC Hydro in 2010.

Route to power

Since 1 February 2026 there is exactly one door, and it is a competitive auction, not a queue ticket. Step 0, Check if you are grandfathered. B.C. Reg. 8/2026 sets a "reference date" of 1 Feb 2026. If your transmission project had already signed a facilities study agreement before that date (or, on distribution, paid a design deposit), you are outside the new regime and continue under the ordinary process. If you had only a system impact study agreement, you are a "proposed high-voltage (SISA) project" and BC Hydro is prohibited from signing your facilities study agreement unless you win the competitive process.

Typical timeline

No published application-to-energization figure. BC Hydro does not state one, and Found none in the Call for Demand documents, which impose no required in-service or commercial operation date on applicants. What IS publicly stated, and can be summed with care: - 2026 Call for Demand: issue 1 Feb 2026 → award mid-Sept 2026. ~7.5 months of allocation process before any connection work is authorised.

Binding constraint

A Statutory volume cap plus A Competitive allocation, and it is roughly 2x oversubscribed on the first round. B.C. Reg. 8/2026, s. 3, for the two-year period beginning 1 Feb 2026: BC Hydro "must not... make available for conventional data centre purposes more than a total of 100 MW of new electricity capacity," and not more than "300 MW of new electricity capacity" plus any unused conventional allocation for AI data centre purposes. So 400 MW total for all data centres in BC over two years. Separately 200 MW for hydrogen-for-export.

Behind the fence

Yes, self-supply is legally open, and it is the only uncapped route in BC. But nothing in 2025–26 was done to enable it; it survives on a decades-old exemption that the new rules simply never touched. Why it is open. B.C. Reg. 8/2026 and the Cryptocurrency Power Regulation both bind only "the authority", BC Hydro. They restrict what BC Hydro may Supply. Neither regulation contains any provision about on-site generation, self-supply, or off-grid operation. Bill 31 likewise contains no self-supply provisions.

Interconnection

Bill 31 (Royal Assent 2025-11-27, Verified live) let government depart from BC Hydro's traditional first-come-first-served connection model. The Data Centre and Hydrogen Production Facility Power Supply Regulation (in force 2026-02-01, Verified live) caps new capacity: 100 MW for conventional data centres and 300 MW for AI data centres over the first two years (falling to 50 MW and 150 MW respectively in year three), with a 145 MW per-project ceiling (all figures Verified live). Access is via a competitive Call for Demand process run by BC Hydro (2026 call opened 2026-01-30, applications due 2026-03-09, $25,000/MW bid security).

Tariff

No dedicated data centre retail tariff has been reported separate from the capacity-allocation and bid-security structure of the Call for Demand.

Years to grid power

3-5 for a winning bid in the competitive call, n/a for anyone who does not win an allocation

Years behind the fence

n/a, province is steering unsuccessful applicants toward self-generation but has not published a fast BTF gas permitting path

Basis for those years

Grid figure: the capacity caps run on a fixed 2026-02-01 to 2029-02-01 schedule; winning projects still need standard BC Hydro connection engineering after allocation; no single connection-time figure published. BTF figure: no specific timeline or emissions-permitting pathway for gas self-generation found.

Dated events

• 2026-08-16 BC Hydro's Call for Demand for Emerging Industries: intake closed, results pending. The utility states it “received 15 applications representing close to 800 megawatts (MW) in total load request” and expects to notify successful applicants by mid-September 2026. Against a two-year allocation target of up to 400 MW, that is roughly twice the available allocation, now confirmed in the utility's own figures rather than inferred. Captured from the BC Hydro page at browser level on 2026-08-16; see the source note on this card about the two versions that URL serves.
• 2026-03-09 Call for Demand application intake closes. The published milestone table sets initial applications and bid security at 2026-03-09, with failure to meet the date resulting in ineligibility; feasibility study results to shortlisted applicants 2026-08-11; supplemental applications 2026-08-25; withdrawal without forfeiting bid security 2026-09-01; outcome notification mid-September 2026. All dates are subject to change. The Request for Applications sets the size of an eligible request at 10 MW or greater and not more than 145 MW, and states that unsuccessful applicants “will not be eligible to enter the interconnection queue to enable interconnection to the BC Hydro System, or will be removed from the interconnection queue, if applicable”. Losing this competition does not mean waiting longer; it means leaving the queue.
• 2026-08-01 Status as of today: BC Hydro's Emerging Industries page reports the 2026 Call for Demand received 15 applications representing close to 800 MW of total load request. BC Hydro states it is currently reviewing applications and expects to notify successful applicants by mid-September 2026.
• 2026-07-06 Black Press / Nelson Star reporting establishes that the new provincial data centre rules do not apply in FortisBC's private-utility service area, because B.C. Reg. 8/2026 binds only BC Hydro.
• 2026-03-09 Initial application deadline for the 2026 Call for Demand (11:00 a.m. Pacific). BC Hydro's Q&A confirms no extensions, and that a multi-phase project totalling 10 MW or more must come through the Call for Demand rather than the standard connection process.
• 2026-02-01 BC Hydro issues the 2026 Call for Demand for Emerging Industries Request for Applications. Eligibility 10–145 MW; bid security $25,000/MW by letter of credit; minimum 10% price premium on demand and energy charges under the applicable electric tariff; minimum…
• 2026-01-30 B.C. Reg. 8/2026 (O.C. 25/2026), Data Centre Facility and Hydrogen Production Facility Power Supply Regulation, deposited and effective.
• 2026-01-30 Province and BC Hydro announce the launch of the competitive selection process for AI and data centres, up to 400 MW over the first two years, applications open, successful applicants to be notified September 2026.
• 2026-01-21 Results of BC Hydro's 2025 Call for Power announced: 14 proposals (13 wind, 1 solar) totalling over 9,100 GWh/yr and more than 3,000 MW, individual projects 63–496 MW, all with minimum 25% First Nations equity, ~$6B private investment.
• 2025-12-08 Regulatory package under Bill 31 takes effect: BC Hydro electric tariff amendments to facilitate industrial connections, a ministerial order exempting BC Hydro from the CPCN requirement for the North Coast Transmission Line, and measures that provide clarity regarding security provisions required to access the line.

Tracked projects

Announced capacity is what the proponent has stated. Energized capacity is what is drawing. They are different figures and are never summed. How the figures reconcile.

Sources

• Data Centre Facility and Hydrogen Production Facility Power Supply Regulation, B.C. Reg. 8/2026 (O.C. 25/2026) — full text read Deposited and effective 2026-01-30; consolidation current to 2026-02-12
• Cryptocurrency Power Regulation, B.C. Reg. 163/2024 (amended by B.C. Reg. 164/2025) Deposited 2024-06-28; last amended 2025-10-20
• Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 473, s. 1 — definition of 'public utility' incl. the self-supply exclusion at (d) and the 5-year 'tenant' limit Consolidation retrieved 2026-08-01
• Bill 31 — 2025: Energy Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 (third reading text and explanatory notes) Royal Assent 2025-11-27
• Reviewable Projects Regulation, B.C. Reg. 243/2019, Table 7 — new thermal electric power plant reviewable at rated nameplate capacity ≥ 50 MW Retrieved 2026-08-01
• BC Hydro — 2026 Call for Demand for Emerging Industries, Request for Applications (PDF, full text extracted) Issued 2026-02-01
• BC Hydro — Emerging Industries connections (Call for Demand status: 15 applications, ~800 MW, notification by mid-September 2026) Retrieved 2026-08-01
• BC Hydro — 2026 Call for Demand questions and answers Retrieved 2026-08-01
• BC Hydro — Transmission connections (five-phase process, study durations, 150 MVA queue exception, Rate Schedule 1823, Electric Tariff Supplement No. 6 BTE/SR cost allocation) Retrieved 2026-08-01
• BC Hydro — Large load connections (thresholds; data centres listed under both major distribution and transmission connections) Retrieved 2026-08-01
• BC Hydro — Emerging industries connections (browser-level capture: intake closed, 15 applications, close to 800 MW, successful applicants notified by mid-September 2026; full milestone table). See the version note in this card's research gaps. captured 2026-08-16
• BC Hydro — 2026 Call for Demand for Emerging Industries, Request for Applications (read in full: 10 MW minimum and 145 MW maximum per request; unsuccessful applicants not eligible to enter, or removed from, the interconnection queue; initial application deadline 11:00 a.m. PT 2026-03-09) 2026-08-16
• Province of British Columbia — news release on the competitive process (“The allocation targets for these projects are for as much as 400 megawatts for the first two years”; successful applicants notified September 2026) 2026-01-30
• B.C. Reg. 8/2026, Data Centre Facility and Hydrogen Production Facility Power Supply Regulation (Feb 1 2026 to Jan 31 2028: 100 MW conventional, 300 MW AI plus unused conventional. From Feb 1 2028: 50 MW conventional, 150 MW AI plus unallocated conventional) 2026-08-16

Known gaps. 1. Time to energization is not published, and I will not estimate one. BC Hydro publishes durations for the study phases (SIS ~6–9 months, transition ~3–4 months, Facilities Study ~6–9 months) but describes Implementation only as "As determined by the facilities study/project plan." The Call for Demand imposes no required in-service or commercial operation date on applicants. No BC Hydro or government document Fetched gives an application-to-energization figure for a large load. 2. The load queue contents are not knowable. Source note, recorded because the disagreement matters. On 2026-08-16 the BC Hydro emerging-industries URL served two different versions of the same page. Direct machine fetches returned an older render carrying a “now open” banner and CMS template artefacts. A browser-level capture of the same URL on the same day returned the current text: the intake is closed, 15 applications were received representing close to 800 MW of total load request, and successful applicants are to be notified by mid-September 2026. The milestone table is identical in both. This card is written from the browser capture, dated, with the older render noted rather than discarded, and the figures are attributed to that capture date rather than presented as undated fact.

Record updated 2026-08-16. Sources reviewed 2026-08-16. Corrections: sam@mccordinvestments.com