BC Hydro file photo

BC Hydro crews go to work during North Island’s all-day planned power outage

BC Hydro used two helicopters and two-eight person crews to complete the structure replacements

The planned all-day power outage on July 15 was a successful one, says Ted Olynyk, media relations for BC Hydro.

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“The outage provided safe working conditions for our crews who were replacing three end-of-life transmission structures in the challenging terrain between Gold River and Woss, and due to access issues, helicopters were required to finish the work.”

Olynyk confirmed they used two helicopters and two-eight person crews to complete the structure replacements.

While they were doing this work, BC Hydro used another 23 staff to fix various parts of the system and also completed vegetation management on trees that could cause future outages.

The power was out from 7 a.m. to around 6 p.m. and impacted approximately 7,300 customers in North Island communities including Woss, Telegraph Cove, Alert Bay, Sointula, Port McNeill, Port Alice, Port Hardy, Coal Harbour, Quatsino and Winter Harbour.


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North Island Gazette