Yeah, BC's pretty lucky with that. Most places do have thermal as their main supply, which cannot follow load well, takes time/money to shut down, etc. BC's lucky since we can supply places like that at peak times when prices are high. Then during the night, buy back electricity at a very cheap rate while we store water behind our dams to sell back again at peak times.
Honestly, i think BC will eventually go to TOU as it becomes more common , it's many years away though. Through the 90's/2000's BCHydro put a lot of money into conservation(remember that lightbulb bee thing? lol), which they claim has paid off in reduced peak demand. TOU would be a large way to reduce peak demand, and with smart meters, would cost very little to implement.
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