Residents with the Bulkley Valley and Lakes District can expect to see BC Hydro crews working in full force through the Spring and Summer.
The power supply company has announced its plans to replace several wooden poles over the next few months, including,
- 200 in Smithers
- 190 in Burns Lake
- 160 in Terrace
Northern Spokesperson Bob Gammer explains this is part of annual regular maintenance to install new poles for customer distribution.
“Power poles last about 40 to 50 years on average and they get weaker over time by weather, insects, and even wildlife. So we have a test-and-treat program to check on their health and when they need replacement, we get on it right away.”
More than 9,000 poles will be replaced across the province, covering over 58,000 kilometres of overhead lines.
Gammer adds this is also to ensure service reliability for its customers.
“Last year, we replaced a few hundred poles and about the same amount in the year before. I believe there are close to one million poles around the province, and so you can imagine the numbers even in the BVLD are fairly high.”
He says crews may have to shut off power in certain areas for safety reasons, but they’ll look to avoid them altogether.
BC Hydro will alert any affected customers if an outage is needed.
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