<P> The development of electric power in British Columbia began with the installation of electric lights in Victoria in 1883 . Created in 1897, the BC Electric Company built BC's first hydroelectric plant near Victoria the following year, and created subsidiaries to supply electricity to Victoria and Vancouver, the province's two largest cities . BC Electric was taken over by Montreal - based Power Corporation in 1928 . Before and during World War II, BC Electric primarily supplied power to the main cities of Vancouver and Victoria, leaving other regions with spotty and unreliable supply . In 1938, the BC government created the British Columbia Utilities Commission, which limited BC Electric's profit margins . In 1945, the provincial government created a crown corporation, the BC Power Commission (BCPC), to acquire small utilities and extended electrification to rural and isolated areas . BCPC grew to supply more than 200 small communities throughout the province . </P> <P> The American and Canadian governments signed the Columbia River Treaty in 1961 and ratified it in 1964, agreeing to share power from hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River . To enable development of major hydroelectric sites on the Columbia and Peace Rivers, the BC government under Premier W.A.C. Bennett bought BC Electric in 1961, and the following year merged it with the BCPC to create the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, commonly known as BC Hydro . During the 60s and 70s, BC Hydro built some of the largest hydroelectric projects in the world, notably the W.A.C. Bennett Dam . More than 80% of BC Hydro's electricity is produced by 61 dams at 43 locations on the Columbia and Peace Rivers . Since that time the company's developments have been much smaller . During the 1980s BC Hydro changed its focus from building new hydroelectric plants to promoting energy conservation . </P> <P> In 2010 the province enacted the Clean Energy Act which puts it on a path toward electricity self - sufficiency and energy conservation, while opening the door to energy exports, further investments in clean, renewable energy and a requirement that 93 percent of its electricity must come from clean or renewable sources . After the first application to build the Site C Dam was denied by the BC Utilities Commission in 1983, BC Hydro began purchasing from independent power producers which provide 20% of BC Hydro's supply . </P> <P> With its earliest beginnings in the 1890s, Alberta's electricity system evolved as combination of a municipally and privately owned and operated systems based on coal - fired generation supplemented with some hydro . Most major municipalities operated municipally owned distribution systems . </P>

Where does canada get most of its energy