KELOWNA – A major utility that serves the Okanagan region is dealing with an increase in vandalism, and the damage being caused could affect thousands.
Fortis B.C.’s electrical equipment is being damaged and in some cases shot at. It’s forcing the company to conduct expensive repairs on equipment that should last for at least another 50 years.
The most recent discovery of vandalism happened this week. On Sunday, one of the company’s transmission lines experienced a power interruption – and the cause of the problem wasn’t easy to find.
“It took an extensive search of a 60 kilometre line to find the damage it required both helicopter and snow cat support to do that and a five person crew working two days in mountainous regions in the snow to correct the problem,” says Corporate Communications Advisor for Fortis B.C., Nicole Bogdanovic.
A power line insulator was found and is believed to have been intentionally broken using a gun.
Judging by the rust, Fortis believes the bullet would have gone through the piece of electrical equipment in the fall, but the line didn’t come down until this past Sunday. Crews found the damaged part on Tuesday morning and made repairs to quickly fix the problem.
Fortis will have to pay a bill of between $30,000 and $50,000 for the repairs. The vandalism is not only expensive to deal with, it has made Fortis worried about the risk to its staff and the public.
“Contact with an energized 230 kilovolt line would be fatal, so this is a huge risk and it’s also a risk to our crews who are now working in adverse winter conditions to try and correct the problem,” says Bogdanovic.
A safety feature designed to de-energize the system when a line hits the ground did kick in but Bogdanovic says a downed line could still be dangerous to be around.
The transmission line went down in a high mountain range in the Okanagan Park area, and there were no power outages because of redundancies in the system. However, Fortis is worried as it deals with an increase in vandalism incidents, including bullet damage throughout the Okanagan and Kootenays.
“We are just very concerned, concerned enough to make it public and to ask for help and try and identify people who are doing this,” says Bogdanovic.
If you have any information about who may have caused this damage, Fortis, Kelowna RCMP or Crime Stoppers would like to hear from you.
B.C. Hydro, the other electrical utility that serves the region, says its not aware of any cases of vandalism to its power lines in the Okanagan.
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