HidroAysén

[1] The total expected installed power was 2,750 MW, generating an average 18,430 gigawatt-hours (66,300 TJ) per year, which corresponds to 21% of Central Interconnected System's (SIC) demand by 2020.

[2] A 3,000 high-voltage direct current line would have been built between Aysén and the capital Santiago to feed the SIC, including a submarine portion between Chaitén and Puerto Montt.

The general manager of HydroAysén, Hernan Salazar, had characterized the project as sustainable in an interview with Patagonia Rising because it would benefit the entire country and for generations to come.

[10] The creation of dams would have caused major flooding in the area of Patagonia, affecting the local population and would force the people to be displaced.

Additionally, the power lines used for the transmission of the energy would have cut through 9 regions, 67 communities, 42 protected areas, and thousands of properties.

The Senator of Aysén during this time, Antonio Horvath, was opposed to approving the project because of the lack of transparency from HydroAysén of where these power lines would cut through.

This opposition was expressed in January 2008 when a group of gauchos had ridden across the area of Patagonia to recruit local people to ride to the capital to protest the construction of the dams.

Instead, the residents were charged extremely high electricity bills, given no compensation, and were relocated to homes that had no direct source of water, causing significant difficulty to these farm-based villages.

In the town area of Cochrane, merchants and business owners had approved of the dam because of the influx of workers from HidroAysén.

[10] The lack of transparency in the decision-making process was widely criticized by the Chilean public; In fact it elicited nationwide street protests.

HidroAysén launched a marketing campaign that was highlighted by fear-mongering that showed what life would be like without new energy in Chile produced by the project.

Chileans around the country were too environmentally aware to be tricked by this marketing attempt and in the meantime would do nothing to stop protest and outrage against the project.

[19][20] Protests against HydroAysén began to gain funding from environmental organizations outside of the country due to the increased press the topic was getting because of the ongoing disagreement between the majority of the government and the public in Chile.

These organizations that helped fund the protests include the Natural Resource Defense Council as well as International Rivers.

The Patagonia Defense Council would also play a large role in the conflict as they started a legal battle with the country that would coincide with the protests.

Finally, the town that was to host HidroAysén's workers would double in size, with a population spike that would not be sustainable with the resources that the region has to offer.

[25] A poll conducted in 2011 by La Tercera newspaper showed that the project was supported by 26% of the population, including 13% of self-identified leftists and 41% of right wingers.

However, because of the poor conditions that many Chileans live in, scholars and activists have accused the state of overlooking how these projects can be detrimental to both the environment and the general public.

Entire rivers now run dry, like the Copiapo, which twenty years ago still flowed through the Atacama Desert.”[27] Overall, these two policies; that the government must purchase scientific reports and must hand out construction and operating licenses for projects as they see fit, have contributed to the growing sentiment that public interests are not as important as the interests of the private sector, at least as far as the government is concerned.

[7] A portion of the Baker dam would have been constructed in the Laguna San Rafael National Park and would have caused irreversible damage to the environment.

This line would have crossed seven of the fifteen regions in Chile, which includes private protected areas, priority conservation sites, indigenous communities, and national parks.

A portion of the line would have also been built underwater so to avoid going through the Chaiten volcano and Pumalin Park where it would eventually meet the main electric grid, the Central Interconnected System (CIS).

[29] There were more potential impacts such as the spread of construction dust and run off, noise pollution, the disturbance of fish spawning areas, as well as wetlands.

[33] Chile is a member of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, which requires additional studies to be completed before a project can be approved and begin construction.

Collaborative action by local actors and environmental justice organizations had stopped the construction of the dams creating a positive impact that embodied many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Gauchos and families living in the countryside had already had decent work and relied on economic systems provided by the Baker river's ecosystem.

Furthermore, the jobs created by the construction of the dams would have been temporary, and therefore not being a sustainable workforce, causing a crash on the inner-town merchants and businesses who would then experience a rapid decline once these workers left.

By terminating HidorAysén and the construction of the dams, the ecosystems that lived in the Baker and Pascua River could continue to flourish and be preserved for generations to come.

[35] At the year 2010 was released the documentary 180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless, which tell the journey of Jeff Johnson at the 2007 from California to the Corcovado Volcano in the Chilean Patagonia.

A documentary that features point of views from both sides of the issue was released in 2011 by film maker Brian Lilla.