Nelson Hydro - July 2012 Power Outage

August 9, 2012

Dear Customer,

In mid-July we experienced a wind storm which resulted in our most extensive power outage this year.

On Tuesday, July, 17th Nelson and area experienced intense rainfall with subsequent flooding and washout problems. This rain event had little impact to the electrical power system. However, on Friday, July 20th a severe windstorm event swept up the valley resulting in downed trees on power lines in some areas of the city and extensively along the North Shore. This same wind event also caused extensive power outage problems to other electric utilities throughout the Kootenay and Boundary regions.

In outage events the repair efforts are prioritized firstly by addressing immediate safety hazards such as low-hanging live lines, and then by the maximizing the number of customers that can be restored the soonest.

Nelson Hydro has an outage information line, 877-324-9376 (877-32HYDRO) that provides information to customers about current outages, when the power restoration is expected and provides a 24/7 line for customers to report outages we may not be aware of. The number for this line is found in the phone book at the front section under "Important Numbers" as well as in the white pages under "Nelson Hydro".

The weekend of July 20th sequence of events for the Nelson Hydro was;

Timeline

Events

Friday
7:00am - 3:30pm
  • Normal Work Day

Friday
4:15pm
  • Wind storm and first trouble calls start to come in

Friday
4:30 pm
  • Nelson Hydro crews conduct damage assessment:
  • Major damage from toppled trees at Queens Bay, Six Mile Lakes Rd, Keiran Rd, Ft. Sheppard Drive and to FortisBC transmission lines supplying Nelson Hydro.
  • Power out from the Orange Bridge to Coffee Creek and in Nelson Uphill area.
  • Approx. 3,070 rural and 40 city customers are without power.

Friday - Saturday
5:00 pm - 6:00 am
  • Nelson Hydro and Contractor crews work through the night repairing damaged power lines in both the City and North shore areas.

Saturday
6:00 am
  • Power restored to about 2,800 customers,
  • Repair crews take a mandatory rest break.

Saturday
2:00 pm - 7:15 pm
  • Nelson Hydro and Contractor crews return to work to address remaining pockets of customers without power.
  • Power restored to almost all customers.

Saturday
7:15 pm
  • Wind topples trees onto power lines near Blaylock Mansion on the North shore - approx. 1,864 customers lose power.
  • Nelson Hydro and contractor crews again begin work through the night on power restoration work.

Sunday
2:30 am
  • Damage repairs completed.
  • Power restored to all customers.

Wind events causing trees to fall on power lines is our major source of power outages. This is why vegetation management (tree trimming) along power lines is so important to electrical system reliability. Each year Nelson Hydro conducts vegetation management along its power lines. Over the course of this summer you will likely see these trimming crews at work throughout our system.

Recently, Nelson Hydro has been the subject of some criticism in Letters to the Editor in the Nelson Star and the Nelson Daily on-line. Let me paraphrase and address the three main items below;

Issue: Why is no one at the City Electrical Department aware that our power didn't come back on when the rest of the City's power was restored?

It is correct that Nelson Hydro doesn't know if power has been restored to all homes. When power is restored in an area, crews will conduct a drive through to see if lights are on - however this is not exhaustive as various homes may have their lights turned off and staff cannot afford to spend time checking individual homes when there are other areas of the utility that are still in need of repairs. The outage information line is the tool for our customers to advise if they notice power has been restored all around them and their home(s) are still without power.
An automatic outage diagnostic reporting system is possible but would require the installation of smart meters and a communication network. This of course would have costs which would increase electric power rates.

Issue: The time frame estimate for power restoration changes from what we were first told:

This can happen quite easily because the restoration time provided is our best estimate based on what we know at the time. During storm events new information is continuously coming in which results in re-prioritizing. Frequently, as was the case July 20th, new storm damage is occurring as the crews are making repairs which also results in changing of the work plan.

Issue: Power restoration is delayed because Nelson Hydro crews are assisting outlying areas and not their own citizens.

Nelson Hydro is a utility wholly owned by the City of Nelson that services customers in both the City and rural areas. Restoration efforts are prioritized, as described above, to return power to the maximum number of customers as soon as possible. July 20th there were many more customers who could be restored by focusing efforts on the North Shore than could be restored within the City. However, there are also other occasions, such as December 2009, where the restoration efforts focus on the City first.

The power restoration work by the Nelson Hydro crews, our contractor Martech Electrical Systems and FortisBC was well executed. A large amount of damage was repaired as quickly as possible while keeping safety paramount.

Best regards,

Alex Love
General Manager
Nelson Hydro


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