The Roller Coaster Years

 In the 1970's and 1980's, BC began to reap the benefits of huge investments made in the 1960's. Yet, during this time, the company that had made so many of these investments went through some particularly painful changes. Unlike the post-war years and the decade following BC Hydro's amalgamation, the way ahead was no longer one of continuous upward movement. The corporation was entering a new era, one of new politics, new social activism, and new expectations from ratepayers. And it was into a new scale of production. Just as its predecessors had gradually increased capacity in the early part of the century, Hydro was now well into the age of the gigawatt - a measure of energy equal to one million kilowatts.

Singer Hazel Flynn entertains Hydro retirees at one of their regular luncheons.  BC Hydro and its predecessors have alway honoured their "Power Pioneers."

These two decades also saw important changes in the way the company was managed. No longer did very powerful and very public chairmen like Dal Grauer, Gordon Shrum, and Hugh Keenleyside put their personal stamp on "eras" that defined the company. However, while there were no fewer than six chairmen at the helm between 1970 and 1990, each had a strong impact.

As this era began, there was a new approach to spending, expansion, and staffing that would affect the company a decade later. Many would benefit during these exciting years, and many would argue then (and later) that it was all too much, too quickly. Reorganizations, downsizing, and transfers and privatization of various parts of Hydro changed the shape of the company so fast that employees sometimes felt dizzy with the pace of change. Externally, global events such as the oil crisis, recessions, and increasing regulation made Hydro's work ever more complex.

As this period ended, Hydro was a very different organization, one dedicated strictly to the generation and sale of power. The historic transit, freight, gas, and motor transportation businesses were all gone. Many of the venerable internal divisions-Home Service, Farm Service, lighting and heating sales, Industrial Development, and more-had been absorbed into the organization, their functions carried out in different ways or not at all. BC Electric, the BC Power Commission and BC Hydro had always been directly or indirectly involved in politics, and were certainly affected by them. But now, at times, the political and public scrutiny would seem particularly intense. Its achievements in the 1960's and 1970's put Hydro in demand, and it took on international contracts and offered consulting services around the world. Due to internal and external pressure, it had become an organization that was highly conscious of the natural environment.

Through the mid-1980's and later, a great number of Hydro's current Power Pioneers, many of whom were with the company for 30 or 40 years-sometimes longer-retired. They left their company in good shape, and in good hands.