UPDATE: BC Hydro Community Relations Manager explains massive planned outage in Fort St. John

UPDATE August 29th: This article has been updated to include additional information provided by Mike Kellett on August 29th, after Energeticcity.ca’s initial interview with him.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — More than 1,000 addresses in Fort St. John will experience a long outage on Friday, according to BC Hydro.

The utility says 1,152 addresses will be without power on August 30th from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. due to a pole replacement.

Mike Kellett, the Northern Community Relations Manager with BC Hydro, explained that five poles will be replaced throughout Fort St. John, with multiple crews set to used specialized equipment for the job.

Kellett added that pole replacements can be more complicated and involved than they sound.

“Especially if it’s a pole that has a lot connected to it, in terms of wires and other equipment,” Kellett said. “Obviously, these wires are currently energized, and it would be unsafe for them to work in those conditions, with an energized line.”

Kellett also emphasized that, although planned power outages can be frustrating for residents and business owners, they’re ultimately necessary.

“While I totally get that it can present some disruptions and whatnot, we have to do this maintenance on our infrastructure, and doing it actually reduces the risk of unplanned outages, which can happen at any time.”

You can find a full list of affected addresses in the city here.