Over the years, The Squamish Chief has taken issue with BC Hydro, in particular for the fish kills that occurred in the Cheakamus River due to its water ramping around storms.
But it is also important to give credit where credit is due. The Crown corp’s handling of the recent power outage deserves kudos.
On Oct. 24, a wind and rain storm knocked out power to about 95,000 BC Hydro customers in the Lower Mainland, Sea to Sky Corridor, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
Overall, in the Sea to Sky Region, 6,039 customers lost power during the storm, according to BC Hydro.
While it was unnerving and a pain for folks impacted in Brackendale and the Squamish Valley, it was a relatively short-lived experience, with the power back on for almost all customers by the next day.
Quickly, 11 BC Hydro employees were dispatched and working in the Sea to Sky to restore power, including one crew in Squamish with five power line technicians. A contracted crew was also brought to Squamish on Oct. 25 to work on two trouble calls, or outages, that could not be completed during the previous night.
The reason these things are so inconvenient to us is precisely because we are lucky enough to have a very reliable electricity system.
While weather can cause outages anywhere, many places have much more impactful blackouts.
Just this year, Pakistan had a blackout that impacted 220 million people. In Argentina in March, millions were left without power in a heatwave. Closer to home, Montreal had an outage in April that left 1.1 million customers without power during an ice storm.
So, overall, we are pretty lucky here.
That said, BC Hydro warns that the near record-breaking dry season in B.C. likely means more power outages are to come.
“Long, dry stretches during the summer put local vegetation under stress,” said Susie Rieder, BC Hydro spokesperson, in a news release.
More than half of all power outages are caused by trees and bad weather, according to BC Hydro.
“Trees weakened by drought and associated disease can be more susceptible to wind, and many of these trees still have leaves late in the season, making them increasingly susceptible to wind and adding weight from rain or snow. As storm season ramps up, a substantial number of dead and damaged trees and branches are expected to fall, contributing to power outages.”
Crews are doing their best to prepare with such preventative tasks as inspecting trees and vegetation near BC Hydro’s infrastructure to prevent problems.
But to make the next outage less of a bother, ready an emergency kit—including flashlights and batteries.
And be sure everyone in your family knows to assume a downed power line is active, to stay back at least 10 metres and to call 911.
For more outage advice, go to bchydro.com/outages.
And if you see a BC Hydro crew out and about, a word of thanks for their efforts would be well placed.
