Columbia Power Corporation held an open house on Wednesday (Nov. 28) at the Castlegar Community Complex. Local residents learned about the many projects the company has undertaken including the Waneta Dam expansion.
"We have an open house and we're consulting on our proposed strategic plan," said Audrey Repin, director, stakeholder relations and communications. "Columbia Power is coming to the end of our last project - that's the Waneta expansion project. We're scheduled for completion in 2015. We're coming to the community to share the background on all that we've done for 16 years. We're also here to talk to the community about our future. What does the community see us doing. What are some of the things they'd like to see us do and how we can communicate better. We have some ideas but we'd also like to see what the community feels. Maybe ways we can improve and do things differently and how they'd like to see us going forward into the future."
Columbia Power is also meeting with various elected officials and stakeholders, said Repin.
The Waneta expansion is a $900 project that will see the construction of a 335 mw powerhouse immediately downstream of the existing Waneta Dam.
Columbia Power Corporation is a commercial crown corporation and they've been developing hydro-electric power projects for 16 years in the Columbia Basin.