B.C. Hydro contractors have run into 鈥済eotechnical and construction challenges鈥� that mean the Site C dam project will not be able to make its target of diverting the Peace River in the summer of 2019.

B.C. Hydro president Chris O鈥橰iley confirmed the delay in a letter to the B.C. Utilities Commission, estimating an extra cost of $610 million that brings the total estimate to $8.9 billion for the most expensive construction project in B.C. history.

O鈥橰iley said there is enough money in the project鈥檚 contingency fund for the cost, and a 鈥渙ne-year float鈥� in the project schedule means it can still be completed as scheduled by November 2024. Other risks remain, including a road realignment to avoid evicting the last two holdout farming couples who live on the narrow riverside land and have already been paid in an expropriation to make way for the dam.

鈥淒ue to the project鈥檚 complexity, we expect to continue to face risks in other areas, including our second largest procurement (i.e. the generating station and spillway) that remains open and the highway realignment,鈥� O鈥橰iley wrote. 鈥淲e will work to mitigate those challenges.鈥�

The project is undergoing a review by the commission on the orders of Premier John Horgan, who made it a prominent issue during his years as NDP opposition leader. Under a tight deadline of Nov. 1 to make recommendations to the B.C. cabinet, the commission has already noted that Site C has been drawing heavily on contingency funds to deal with a tension crack in the riverbank and other issues.

Energy Minister Michelle Mungall said the delay is not a result of the NDP government鈥檚 review, ordered after former B.C. Hydro CEO Jessica Macdonald was fired this summer. The new government has commissioned reports on the cost of delaying or abandoning the project, which O鈥橰iley says should continue after two years of work and nearly $2 billion spent.

鈥淒espite the challenges we have encountered and the risks that remain, our analysis continues to confirm that completing Site C as planned is still the most cost-effective option for our customers,鈥� O鈥橰iley said. 鈥淪uspending or terminating and finding the power we need from other sources 鈥� which carries its own set of uncertainties 鈥� would cost billions more than completing Site C.鈥�