Haida Gwaii is a crown jewel of biodiversity — and still fuelled by diesel in 2019

Across the world, Haida Gwaii is described as a place with "reverence for the environment," an archipelago with "almost mystical energy," a place with stunning biodiversity that makes it "Canada's answer to the Galapagos."

And every year, the islands off B.C.'s North Coast burn through 10 million litres of diesel to create electricity. 

"It's a dirty little secret for us," said Darin Swanson, a hereditary chief in Old Masset, and capital works program manager for the Council of the Haida Nation.

Unconnected to BC Hydro's main electrical grid, two diesel generation stations provide the majority of power to Haida Gwaii's nearly 5,000 residents. A small, private hydroelectric plant on Moresby Island is the only major source of clean energy. 

"It's been an issue that the community is not proud of," said Masset Mayor Barry Pages, whose municipality is home to one of the stations. 

Virtually everyone on the islands agree a change is needed.

What's less clear is how to get there. 

Local solutions

In 2012, BC Hydro issued a call for renewable energy projects, but opted not to move forward after receiving 26 submissions.

"It was really frustrating," said Pages. "We had meetings, [but] didn't get much feedback from them, and quite frankly we're not sure where they are in the process of looking at alternative forms."

While shipping subsidized diesel across the Hecate Strait is expensive, the cost of connecting the islands to the grid would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and so the status quo prevails. 

With no movement from the province, local communities have attempted to fill the gap. Solar panels can be seen on many buildings in the Village of Queen Charlotte and Masset, and heat pumps have been installed for nearly every home in Skidegate, but they're acknowledged as relatively small-scale solutions.  

"We've done a few retrofits ... but these projects have been successful because we've been able to get some grant funding to do that," said Pages, who said Masset was limited by its small tax base. 

At the same time, several projects from private companies have stalled, including a tidal power proposal by Yourbrook Energy Systems. 

Yourbrook president Laird Bateham says his company has been working since 2014 on technology that uses water wheels and pumps to harness tidal power. Ironing out the engineering challenges and dealing with government red tape mean it's still not ready to move into large-scale use, he adds.

"If we're going to displace the diesel, they always say that you've got to have a proven technology and we're just working to get to that point," said Bateham.

"We have a lot of very creative and inventive people on the island, and they're working really hard doing what patchwork solutions they can," said Queen Charlotte Coun. Jesse Embree. 

"But we would love to see more more from Hydro." 

Biomass solution?

A Hydro spokesperson said that in 2012, "none of the projects were well-advanced developmentally" and that they were waiting on the Haida Nation to identify a feasible project because "their support is key to the success of any project moving forward."

The Haida say they're ready to take on the challenge. 

"It's just a matter of us getting our all our eggs into the basket and get this project moving," said Swanson. 

He said the Haida are currently working on a feasibility study for a large-scale biomass project which would take the waste products from the region's forests and convert it to energy. 

"We want to change it for a lot of reasons, so we're not burning the diesel, so we're creating more jobs with our renewable resources," he said.  

Change from the ground up

In the meantime, a younger generation of Haida are taking note.

"Whether you're a fisherman or logger, a carver, an environmentalist, people can see the damage that fossil fuels are having," said Jaalen  Edenshaw.

He's a director with the Swiilawiid Sustainability Society, a non-profit group pushing stakeholders to find a solution. The group held a symposium last autumn to raise awareness about the problem. 

Edenshaw said there may not be a silver bullet, but that it's to take action.    

"Haida Gwaii is our land," he said. "It's not necessarily up to someone else to fix our problems."

Metro Matters: On The Road is exploring how new city governments throughout B.C. are approaching age-old issues (some political, some not) in their communities.