Wildfires that ripped through the Central and Southern regions of the B.C. Interior destroyed not only homes and livelihood but also hundreds of pieces of hydro equipment.
For the past three weeks nearly 200 BC Hydro crews have been working around-the-clock to restore power, and replace or repair equipment damaged by the flames.
However, power has not been restored to 110 customers in the Spokane Lake area.
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Since July 7, power has been restored to more than 49,000 customers affected by wildfires.
BC Hydro has also replaced nearly 900 pieces of equipment, including:
- 371 distribution poles
- 261 spans of wire
- 159 cross arms
- 54 transmission structures
- 51 transformers
It’s expected that all repairs to damaged equipment will be done on Friday.
A Wildfire Evacuee Assistance Program is now in place by BC Hydro that provides bill credits to customers who have been evacuated.
BC Hydro has proactively identified residential and commercial customers located in evacuation areas and will apply an automatic credit to their account for the electricity consumed during the period they are out of their home due to evacuation order.
In addition to providing this credit, BC Hydro claims it will work with customers who have been evacuated or placed on evacuation alert to defer bill payments, waive late payment charges and set up a flexible payment plan.
