Trees over power lines are the leading cause to power outages on Vancouver Island and across B.C. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

BE PREPARED

Island Hydro crews taking steps to reduce frequency, duration of power outages

Nov 4, 2022 | 2:29 PM

NANAIMO — A rapid shift from summertime drought to fall’s parade of storms is highlighting the need to be prepared for extreme weather and power outages.

A handful of calls to 911 reporting BC Hydro lines down on the road over recent weeks, coinciding with more active weather patterns over the central Island, tested ongoing work to to reduce the chance and duration of outages.

Hydro’s Ted Olynyk said they’re out all year trimming vegetation back from power infrastructure to reduce the likelihood of downed trees or branches contacting lines.

“We know living on the West Coast, we’re never going to eliminate outages completely but what we hope to do is lessen the impact on our customers whether that’s the frequency of outages, the duration of outages or providing better information to our customers.”

Investment in weather-proofing the network increased consistently since 2006 and is tested annually.

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Strong storm seasons in 2015, 2018 and most recently during the November 2021 atmospheric river event further showed Hydro crews where weak spots might still be.

“The majority of outages are caused by trees and vegetation on our lines,”Olynyk added. “On Vancouver Island, we have more trees per kilometre of utility line than any place else in North America, so it can be the bane of our existence at Hydro for keeping the lights on for our customers.”

Olynyk said customers had a role to play in Hydro’s work as well.

Not only are they responsible for the final connection from street to home, people need to be able to take care of themselves for up to 72 hours in the event of a major event which sees the power go out.

Storm kits to survive events like storms or earthquakes are crucial to have and should include first aid supplies, a flashlight and extra batteries, medications along with non-perishable food and water.

Despite recent reminders, it still seems many are not taking the hint.

A November 2022 report on storm preparedness showed nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they hadn’t taken any storm prep steps this year, since the events of November 2021.

Seniors, over the age of 55, are a third more likely than people aged 18 to 34 to be prepared while the survey showed women to be generally more pragmatic than men.

Roughly 258,000 BC Hydro customers lost power at some point during the November 2021 event which also saw multiple areas flooded and several highway washouts, including a sink hole on Hwy. 19 in Lantzville.

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