Trans Mountain expansion would cost taxpayers $6.4B over next three decades: analysis

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Canadian taxpayers could lose out on approximately $6.4 billion over the next three decades if Kinder Morgan expands its Trans Mountain pipeline, according to a new cost-benefit analysis from SFU.

If the Trans Mountain expansion goes ahead, existing pipelines will see reduced capacity, according to the SFU study, and that cost will then be passed on to taxpayers like you through lower royalty payments and taxes that oil producers pay.

“It will represent overcapacity, and that will be a net negative for the oil market because of this unused capacity that it will create,” says Karen Wristen with the Living Oceans Society, which commissioned the study.

Beyond that issue, the study also looks at the company’s BC Hydro subsidy.

“All industries pay for Hydro at the industrial rate,” says Wristen. “For Kinder Morgan, this means a $27 million per year subsidy or, over the life of the project, $257 million.”

The study will be submitted as evidence to the National Energy Board as it considers the project.

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