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The quick read: Tolko Industries has filed a notice of civil claim against FortisBC, arguing the $7.41 million the utility paid for a two-acre piece of its former Kelowna mill site was not enough. FortisBC expropriated the land to build a new electrical substation. The 40-acre mill site in Kelowna's North End has sat empty since the mill shut down in early 2020, and Tolko's sister company Holar Developments plans to turn it into a mixed-use residential community.

When a utility can take your land and name its own price, the courts are the only place left to argue about what it is worth.

Tolko Industries has filed a notice of civil claim against FortisBC over the expropriation of a two-acre parcel of its former mill site in Kelowna's North End.

FortisBC paid $7.41 million for the land, where it plans to build a new electrical substation.

Tolko says that was not enough.

A site waiting for a second act

The Tolko mill shut down in early 2020, and the 40-acre site has sat empty ever since.

Tolko's sister company, Holar Developments, is managing the property, with plans to turn it into a mixed-use residential community on one of the largest remaining development sites in the North End.

That makes the two acres at the centre of the dispute more than a substation site.

It is a piece of a property Tolko intends to build homes on, in a city that keeps saying it needs more of them.

Two sides, two versions of fair value

FortisBC says it tried to negotiate before expropriating, and was "not able to reach an agreement that reflected fair value for our customers."

That is the utility's side of the story, and it is a fair concern: ratepayers should not overpay for infrastructure.

But expropriation is a blunt instrument.

A government or utility that can take private land when talks stall needs to be held to a high standard on price, because the owner on the other side does not get to say no.

When the two sides cannot agree on what land is worth, a judge decides.

That is exactly what is happening now, and whatever the court decides will matter well beyond these two acres.

Kelowna is growing fast, the grid needs substations, and more big parcels will change hands in the years ahead.

Property owners deserve to know the price will be fair, and ratepayers deserve to know the bill will be honest.

Both sides are entitled to that, and this case will help set where the line falls.

Sources: Tree Frog Creative (Nicholas Johansen), November 9, 2026; Castanet.