BC Hydro outage to affect over 3,300 customers

FORT NELSON, B.C. — A planned power outage is expected to affect over 3,300 BC Hydro customers in Fort Nelson.

The outage, which is scheduled to last from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 19th, will affect 3,386 customers in Fort Nelson and Prophet River First Nation, according to BC Hydro. 

The utility said the planned work is necessary to complete upgrades at the Wescup Substation, where maintenance has been underway for the past three months to prepare for winter.

“We had a similar outage in the summer to isolate equipment, and now we’re returning the station to normal operating status,” Dave Mosure, BC Hydro’s northern community relations coordinator, told Energeticcity.ca. “The equipment needs to be de-energized for crew safety.”

BC Hydro’s outage list initially cited “adverse weather” as the cause of the outage, but was later corrected to “planned work being done on our equipment.”

Mosure said all affected customers will be notified of the outage through automated phone calls or by email.

Postcards are usually delivered in the mail as well, but this is unlikely in this case, due to the ongoing postal workers’ strike.

Smaller outages in other parts of the Peace region are also planned throughout the month, affecting customers in Fort St. John on October 15th, Chetwynd on October 14th and Dawson Creek on October 21st.

For more information on outage preparedness and safety, visit BC Hydro’s website.