BC Hydro is keeping its eye on neighbourhoods in northern Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam following a series of unusual power outages last year.
This week, the Crown agency told the Tri-City News it’s monitoring the area east of Parkway Boulevard and west of Coast Meridian Road because of the blackout upticks in 2024.
According to BC Hydro’s records, there were 14 unplanned outages, of which most were caused by trees and branches coming in contact with the power lines during bad storms; two other outages were due to a motor vehicle accident and an unexpected equipment failure, said BC Hydro spokesperson Kyle Donaldson.
“We are working to resolve this issue for the community,” he said. “We consider it a high priority and we started taking action last year.”
Among the improvements are:
- relocating a circuit breaker north of David Avenue
- to separate the heavily wooded portion of the line from the section that serves residential customers
- adding fault circuit indicators to the overhead line
- to help identify problem areas
- undergrounding several sections of the overhead line
- construction to start in early 2026
- inspecting vegetation in the area and removing potentially hazardous trees
- crews are scheduled to return to the area in early 2025, with additional work on Westwood Plateau
- exploring adding new protective measures
“We want to thank our customers for their patience as we work to improve service reliability in the area,” Donaldson said. “We know outages are disruptive and we work hard to prevent them and respond quickly.”
The Tri-City News was alerted to the power outages by a Coquitlam homeowner, who noted his neighbourhood near the Coquitlam River and surrounding areas went dark nearly every month last year — for two to 11 hours — and affected more than 5,200 BC Hydro customers.
He said the outages have created spotty cellphone service and issues in buildings with elevators, which have created safety concerns for the elderly and people with mobility challenges.
Area residents have reached out to BC Hydro and Coquitlam-Burke Mountain MLA Jodie Wickens for resolution. As well, they’ve also launched a Facebook page to air grievances.
Meanwhile, BC Hydro said 2024 was a record-breaking year for weather-related power outages.
Last year, more than 1.4 million customers had a storm blackout — the most in the agency’s history — that affected power and heat.
“BC Hydro has been preparing extensively for the effects of climate change on our system, including tripling our budget this year for vegetation management on transmission and distribution lines to battle the effects of drought,” said spokesperson Susie Rieder, in a Jan. 31 news release.
Here are some tips to be prepared for an outage:
- Have an emergency kit. Supplies should last for at least 72 hours and include a flashlight, extra batteries, first aid kit, non-perishable foods, bottled water and an external power bank for phones and other devices.
- Know where to get the latest outage updates. Customers can visit the BC Hydro website from their mobile device for the most up-to-date information.
- Know the dangers of electrical equipment. A downed or damaged power line is considered an emergency even if it is not smoking, sparking, or making a buzzing sound. Always assume the line is live, stay back at least 10 metres (the length of a bus) and call 911 to report.
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