A transmission circuit failure caused a long power outage for all of Prince Rupert for several hours today.
The outage happened at approximately 11:30 this morning. The area affected included all of Prince Rupert, Port Edward, the area immediately to the north of Prince Rupert, including Lax Kw’alaams, and northeastern Digby Island.
In total, approximately 8,000 customers were affected, and power was restored at 5:30 p.m.
BC Hydro spokesperson Simi Heer said there was an issue with a substation at a transmission line from Terrace to Prince Rupert, and crews had difficulty finding the fault.
In addition, the backup natural gas plant did not kick in to provide emergency power for the area as anticipated.
“It’s supposed to kick in right away…What should have happened is at the natural gas plant, the alarms should have gone off, and we should have been notified.”
Heer said an investigation will take place as to why the alarms didn’t go off.
Comments