'John Horgan Dam' is now the official name of the newly built Site C project | Daily Hive

'John Horgan Dam' is now the official name of the newly completed Site C power project

Site C hydroelectric dam, August 2025. (BC Hydro)

The newly completed Site C hydroelectric dam now carries a name honouring the late 36th premier of British Columbia, who decided nearly a decade ago that the project’s construction should continue.

The provincial government announced today that the third dam on the Peace River in northeastern B.C. is now officially named the “John Horgan Dam and Generating Station.”

Additionally, the vast reservoir for the dam is now called “Nááchę mege” — or “Dreamer Lake” — which is a name chosen with local First Nations.

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“Former premier John Horgan played a key role in moving Site C forward and ensuring B.C. has the clean, reliable power we need today and into the future,” said Charlotte Mitha, the president and CEO of BC Hydro, in a statement today.

Major construction work on the controversial project first began in 2015. The process to fill the 83 km-long reservoir — which is up to 52 metres deep — behind the dam took 11 weeks, concluding in November 2024. The first electricity generation unit went online in October 2024, and all six units went into service in August 2025.

Horgan stepped down from his premiership in 2022 after a battle with cancer. He passed away from cancer in November 2024 after a new cancer diagnosis earlier that year.

John Horgan, 2022. (Government of B.C.)

“We’re proud to name the Site C dam and generating station in honour of former premier John Horgan. John’s leadership and his decision to complete Site C through tough challenges helped secure B.C.’s clean-energy future,” said Premier David Eby in a statement today.

Adrian Dix, the B.C. minister of energy and climate solutions, added, “As electricity demand continues to grow, his decision to move forward with Site C has proven critical to securing reliable, clean power for the future, and it reflects his strong belief in stewardship, public service and making tough decisions in the public interest.”

Horgan’s BC NDP opposed Site C, almost cancelled this dam project

Shortly after Horgan’s BC NDP party formed government in 2017, following that year’s general provincial election, Site C was one of two major infrastructure projects considered for cancellation — the other project being the 10-lane bridge project to replace the aging George Massey Tunnel. During that year’s election campaign, the BC NDP joined the Green Party of BC in campaigning against both projects spearheaded by Christy Clark’s previous BC Liberals government.

A decade ago, the Site C project was criticized by both parties for its high construction cost, impact on provincial debt, impact on the rates paid by BC Hydro customers, opposition by local First Nations, and impact on the environment and local residents due to the flooding of a large area for the reservoir, which also involved clearing thousands of hectares of trees.

As well, at the time, there was a strong belief by critics that the additional power capacity provided by Site C would not be needed.

In September 2017, after a review, the BC NDP cancelled the new George Massey Bridge project, which was just months away from starting major construction work.

However, the situation was different for the Site C dam, which was already about three years deep into major construction work. In Fall 2017, the provincial government determined that if the project were to be cancelled, it would have to absorb $3.9 billion in debt with nothing to show for it, with $2.1 billion already spent on construction and another $1.8 billion needed to remediate the area after extensive site preparations and construction had already been performed.

site c hydroelectric dam bc construction july 2024

July 2024 construction progress on the Site C hydroelectric dam. (BC Hydro)

July 2024 construction progress on the Site C hydroelectric dam. (BC Hydro)

After a review, Horgan announced in December 2017 that the Site C project’s construction would ultimately continue as planned to full completion, but this was a decision he made begrudgingly.

“Megaproject mismanagement by the old government has left B.C. in a terrible situation. But we cannot punish British Columbians for those mistakes, and we can’t change the past. We can only make the best decision for the future,” said Horgan on Dec. 11, 2017.

“It’s clear that Site C should never have been started. But to cancel it would add billions to the Province’s debt — putting at risk our ability to deliver housing, child care, schools and hospitals for families across B.C. And that’s a price we’re not willing to pay.”

At the time of the 2017 decision to press on with construction, the project’s budget had risen from $8.8 billion to $10.7 billion. The final cost is now $16 billion due to geotechnical and engineering challenges, and market inflation on the prices for materials, equipment, and labour, especially after the pandemic. This was the single most expensive infrastructure project ever built in B.C.

site c hydroelectric dam bc hydro august 2025

Site C hydroelectric dam, August 2025. (BC Hydro)

BC Hydro now in need of more power generation capacity, even with the new Site C dam

The John Horgan Dam and Generation Station can produce roughly 5,100 GWh of electricity annually, enough to power roughly 500,000 homes. It has increased BC Hydro’s total electricity supply by eight per cent and helps reduce its reliance on importing power from other jurisdictions.

In 2023, BC Hydro first announced that it would need to substantially increase its electrical generation capacity much sooner than anticipated — even after accounting for the significant capacity it would soon gain from the operation of Site C. This was being driven by the pivot away from some fossil fuels — strongly encouraged by the BC NDP-led government — and the resulting accelerated pace of the electrification of building heating systems and the adoption of battery-electric vehicles, along with a growing population and economy.

The provincial Crown corporation subsequently launched a multibillion-dollar procurement process to buy more electricity before the end of this decade, specifically from new intermittent wind power projects.

November 2024 milestone of Site C hydroelectric dam’s reservoir being fully filled. (BC Hydro)

July 2024 construction progress on the Site C hydroelectric dam. (BC Hydro)

Site C hydroelectric dam, August 2025. (BC Hydro)

In 2024, due to growing demand and the need to improve the reliability and resiliency of aging energy infrastructure that the province was becoming increasingly solely dependent on, BC Hydro announced a $36-billion expansion of its its electrical network over 10 years, including $10 billion for infrastructure to support continued electrification and greenhouse gas reductions, over $5 billion to address load growth and increased customer connections, and $21 million for the ongoing maintenance of existing infrastructure.

And this week, BC Hydro announced a $1-billion program to help residential and business customers reduce their power use, in a bid to delay or avoid building $2 billion worth of new infrastructure.

This spring, beyond the new intermittent power generation projects, there has also been some discussion of looking at considering other additional major reliable options of generating more power, including an additional dam on the Peace River — in addition to Site C.

The John Horgan Dam and Generation Station joins the Peace River’s other two hydroelectric dams, entailing the 1968-built W.A.C. Bennett Dam — which is named after the longtime B.C. premier who spearheaded the dam and an immense era of major infrastructure construction projects — and the 1980-built Peace Canyon Dam.

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