Conifex Files Claims Against Province of British Columbia and British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
April 12 2023 - 8:00AM
Conifex Timber Inc. (
"Conifex") (TSX: CFF)
announced today that it has filed a petition in the Supreme Court
of British Columbia seeking judicial review of the Lieutenant
Governor In Council of British Columbia’s (the
“
LGIC”) recent Order In Council 692/2022
(“
OIC”). The OIC directed the British Columbia
Utilities Commission to issue orders relieving the British Columbia
Hydro and Power Authority (“
BC Hydro”) of its
obligation to supply service respecting cryptocurrency mining
projects for a period of 18 months. Conifex alleges that the OIC
exceeds the statutory powers granted to the LGIC under the
Utilities Commission Act, is discriminatory and breaches statutory
and common law restraints on the LGIC’s delegated powers. Conifex
is seeking an order quashing and setting aside the OIC as
unauthorized or otherwise invalid.
As a result of the OIC, two of Conifex’s
proposed high performance computing projects (the “HPC
Projects”) have effectively been paused.
Conifex has concurrently filed a notice of civil
claim against BC Hydro in the Supreme Court of British Columbia
seeking an order requiring BC Hydro to supply service to the HPC
Projects. The claim also seeks general damages against BC Hydro.
The notice of civil claim alleges that BC Hydro’s failure and
refusal to supply service to the HPC Projects is in breach of BC
Hydro's common law obligation to supply electricity and unfairly
discriminates against Conifex vis-a-vis other commercial
customers.
Ken Shields, Conifex's Chair and Chief Executive
Officer, stated: "The OIC represents considerable government
overreach. The Government is not entitled to disregard British
Columbia law enacted by the legislative assembly acting on behalf
of the people of British Columbia. The OIC was made without
consulting the high-performance computing industry, First Nations
or British Columbians at large. The OIC has not only harmed
Conifex's business prospects, but limits opportunities for British
Columbians to participate in emerging new technologies that create
employment and economic opportunity in hard hit resource dependent
communities."
Conifex has been working collaboratively with
Tsay Key Dene Nation to develop and build high performance
computing projects. Both Conifex and the Tsay Keh Dene remain
committed to advancing their business of hosting high performance
computers.
The OIC does not impact Conifex's previously
announced 3-megawatt high performance computing project.
For further information, please contact:
Kenneth A. ShieldsChairman and Chief Executive
Officer (778)
331-8685
About Conifex Timber Inc.
Conifex and its subsidiaries' primary business
currently includes timber harvesting, reforestation, forest
management, sawmilling logs into lumber and wood chips, and value
added lumber finishing and distribution. Conifex's lumber products
are sold in the United States, Canadian and Japanese markets.
Conifex also produces bioenergy at its power generation facility at
Mackenzie, BC.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release may
constitute “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements
are statements that address or discuss activities, events or
developments that Conifex expects or anticipates may occur in the
future. When used in this news release, words such as “estimates”,
“expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “projects”, “will”, “believes”,
“intends” “should”, “could”, “may” and other similar terminology
are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations and
beliefs of Conifex’s management. Because forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors,
actual results, performance or achievements of Conifex or the
industry may be materially different from those implied by such
forward-looking statements. Examples of such forward-looking
information that may be contained in this news release include, but
are not limited to, statements regarding the impact of the OIC on
HPC Projects, including the timing of the pause thereof, Conifex’s
planned HPC business generally, including its collaboration with
the Tsay Key Dene. Forward-looking statements involve significant
uncertainties, should not be read as a guarantee of future
performance or results, and will not necessarily be an accurate
indication of whether or not such results will be achieved. A
number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially
from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements,
including, risk factors described in Conifex’s annual information
from for the year ended December 31, 2022 which is available on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These risks, as well as others, could cause
actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly,
readers should exercise caution in relying upon forward-looking
statements and Conifex undertakes no obligation to publicly revise
them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as
required by law.
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