Opening a policy window for organisational change and full-cost accounting: The creation of BC Hydroʹs water use planning program

British Columbiaʹs Water Use Planning (WUP) program is a multi-stakeholder process that revises the operating plans of BC Hydroʹs hydroelectric facilities in order to consider water values beyond hydropower. Using a model of policy change, this paper analyses the circumstances that enabled the emergence of WUP and prompted BC Hydro to change its decision-making processes to better consider environmental and social concerns. al factors, including dam operationsʹ ecological impacts, an imprecise regulatory environment, and worsening relationships with regulators, highlighted the need for a change in operating BC Hydro facilities. Factors internal to BC Hydro included the development of a business case, concerns regarding the utilityʹs reputation and public expectations. While different approaches were explored for solving BC Hydroʹs problems, a policy window for change opened within a shifting context provided by the election of a more progressive government, the growth of the environmental movement, and new approaches to taking complex multi-stakeholder, multiple resource decisions. Following a successful pilot process and government direction to expand WUP, factors that enabled its institutionalisation included financial resources to compensate for the foregone power, the presence of visionary individuals, the background preparation that facilitated a successful pilot WUP, and the urgent need of a solution.