Williams Lake City Council has scheduled a Special Council Meeting next Monday.
The meeting will be covering the lack of progress made towards a path forward for Atlantic Power to continue operating.
Manager of Economic Development, Beth Veenkamp says the impacts if Atlantic Power were to close would be quite significant.
“They contribute about $1.3 million dollars to our tax base, and that in combined with their utilities is about 3 percent of our annual budget.” says Veenkamp.
“Additionally, they are a contractor source for over 150 different companies. The trickle down effects within the community are going to be quite dramatic.”
Veenkamp says the goal for the meeting is to understand the widespread impacts to the community to report it back to the Provincial Government and urge them to find a solution.
A notice was given by Atlantic Power back in February to cease operations in January 2025 due to an inability to be profitable under its current contract conditions with BC Hydro.
She says Atlantic Power has until October 15th to rescind the notice, or will be shutting down as of January 1st.
The meeting will be at 6:00pm, on June 17th, at City Hall and they encourage the public to join and inform Council how the closure would impact the community.
More information about the meeting can be found on the City’s website here.
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