Brief power outage in Prince Rupert affected all residents

More than 8,000 BC Hydro customers in Prince Rupert, Port Edward, Lax Kw’alaams, Gitxaala and surrounding communities, were affected by a power outage on Oct. 13.

Bob Gammer, BC Hydro northern relations manager, told The Northern View BC Hydro experienced a transmission circuit failure adding the cause of the outage is unknown, and BC Hydro may never find out what the cause of the power failure was.

The outage at the Skeena substation circuit, holding a 287,000-volt line, started at 12:46 p.m. and ended about 10 to 15 seconds later, Gammer said.

“When this kind of thing [happens], especially when they are so brief, it’s hard to tell exactly what would have caused this,” Gammer said. “Our protective equipment immediately worked. When it didn’t find a fault on the line, it auto ‘re-closed’ and so this is why power was restored within seconds.”

The outage affected all residents in Prince Rupert. If power has not been restored to your home, Gammer said individual residents should contact BC Hydro immediately because they will not be aware of it.

You can contact BC Hydro at 1-800-BC-HYDRO (1-800-224-937).