Premier Gordon Campbell's call for a review of B.C. energy policy, and the prospect of new leadership at B.C. Hydro, can provide a jump-start in the province's transition to a "green" economy.

Electricity is increasingly seen as the energy carrier of choice to replace fossil fuels, and this province has an opportunity to show real leadership in making this transition a reality.

The transportation sector, which accounts for some 40 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions in B.C., is rapidly adopting electrification as a fundamental strategy to combat climate change. Nearly every car manufacturer has announced plans for a new generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which will rely on utility-generated electricity for nearly 80 per cent of their energy needs.

Some have also released plans for small battery-only electric vehicles ideal for commuters. Together with an expansion of electrically powered rapid transit, such as the trolley buses and SkyTrain in Vancouver, these new vehicles will enable electricity to provide a much greater share of our energy needs.

Some observers have questioned if a move from gasoline and diesel fuel to electricity will be widely accepted by drivers. In part, such acceptance will depend on the relative cost of electricity and fossil fuels.

With a residential electricity rate of just over six cents per kilowatt hour, B.C. electricity equates to an energy cost of about 60 cents per litre of gasoline. An all-electric drivetrain has an efficiency at least three times that of a gasoline-powered vehicle. The effective cost of "filling up" with electricity will then be the equivalent of about 20 cents per litre of gasoline.

Even with the eventual addition of road taxes, electrical energy will still be significantly cheaper than the fossil fuel alternatives. Once this fact is fully understood by the car-driving public, there will no doubt be widespread and rapid adoption of the new generation of clean and quiet electric vehicles.

The use of electrically driven heat pumps provides yet another opportunity to use electricity with very high efficiency to replace fossil fuels in many space heating applications.

Of course, for electrification to make a large impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the electricity will have to be generated sustainably, using renewable energy and nuclear power rather than coal or natural gas. Since nearly all of our electricity is generated from renewable hydroelectric power, B.C. can set an example for the world in showing how to move away from fossil fuels and towards a new sustainable "electricity economy."

This will inevitably require a significant expansion of our generation and transmission facilities, and the province needs to act quickly to ensure that these new facilities are as sustainable and cost-effective as possible.

While it is not widely known, large-scale energy storage is probably the most important asset on the B.C. Hydro system.

Lake Williston, the man-made and largest lake in the province, is essentially the world's third biggest "battery," after Lake Volta in Ghana and the Manicouagan reservoir in Quebec. This very large energy storage capacity has enabled B.C. Hydro to store energy when prices are low, and to then sell at peak prices at a later time.

In the past, this electricity arbitrage has allowed the province to reap significant profits, but in the future could be used to reduce the cost of adding more intermittent electricity sources from wind-power and small-scale hydro facilities.

The large energy storage behind the W.A.C. Bennett Dam also means that a significant new source of renewable hydroelectric power is available to the province without the need for the widespread environmental damage that is often associated with building large new reservoirs.

The Site C project, just downstream of the other two major powerhouses on the Peace river, could provide some 4,600 GWh of electricity per year with only limited flooding of the river valley. As with most large-scale power generation projects, both the cost of electricity and environmental impact is likely to be smaller per unit of electricity generated than for smaller intermittent generation projects.

With large energy storage facilities, and the ability to incorporate both large-scale and small-scale intermittent generation sources, B.C. has a unique opportunity to showcase a truly sustainable electricity supply. The planning must start now, however, and needs to include work on both the electricity demand and supply sides.

This is why the announcement of a complete review of the province's energy strategy is so timely, and why we must start now to build the infrastructure needed for the new electricity economy.

Robert L. Evans was the founding Director of the Clean Energy Research Centre at the University of British Columbia. His recent book, Fueling Our Future: an Introduction to Sustainable Energy, was short-listed for the 2008 Donner Prize.