B.C. Government Reveals $1.46 Billion Error in Gas Revenue Forecasts

The British Columbia government has confirmed errors worth $1.46 billion in gas revenue forecasts. The mistakes were independently verified and corrections will be included in the province's quarterly fiscal report, due out later this month.

The most significant error related to U.S.-Canadian dollar conversions, where a formula was incorrectly applied across a spreadsheet. Energy Ministry staff used private-sector estimates of natural gas prices, which are provided in Canadian or U.S. dollars. However, they assumed the figures were shown in U.S. dollars when in fact they were in Canadian dollars, leading to an overstatement of revenue.

Correcting this error resulted in a price decrease of 44 cents per gigajoule of natural gas in B.C.'s forecasting for 2026-2027. Budget 2026 shows incorrect forecasted prices ranging from $2.34 to $4.83 at plant inlet.

The Energy Ministry is working with experts to improve its quality assurance process in forecasting moving forward, staff told a technical briefing earlier this week.