Activity at the Keremeos Fortis sub station is levelling off as maintenance at the facility was completed last week.
A portable transformer was brought into the facility several weeks ago in order to take the station’s transformer off-line, explained Fortis electrician Rocky Bellanger.
Contractors inspected the unit’s bushings for PCBs, finding none on the unit.
Bellanger said the station’s transformer bushing were either solid, or contained liquid that was PCB free. Contractors were expected to wrap up their work by Monday, after which the mobile transformer will be shipped to Summerland.
Adjacent to the substation, along the Burlington-Northern rail trail, other contractors were conducting ground resistivity tests. The testing is done to ensure current surges will disburse safely in and around the substation.
Bellanger said the tests were done for public safety reasons.
“We’re measuring how well the ground handles high current,” he said, noting examples such as lightning strikes or downed power lines occurring in the substation.
No matter how well the ground absorbs power surges, Bellanger said the best advice he could offer in the event of coming across downed power lines is to “stay back.”
