FortisBC Lower Mainland gas concerns end

A plea for FortisBC customers to limit natural gas use because of an issue with a transmission line has ended, with the company saying the supply was “being safely restored to normal levels” Wednesday.

The utility provider said Tuesday night that problems with the 36-inch Westcoast Energy Inc.’s T-South line had reduced supply to the region, along with parts of Vancouver Island.

As a result, it asked customers to help conserve natural gas by limiting non-essential use through parts of Wednesday.

“The line from Westcoast Energy is the pipeline that we get the majority of our gas supply from, so any disruption of that line affects our gas supply,” explained Sean Beardow, manager, corporate communications, FortisBC.

Fortis first flagged the issue with the public through a service notice posted online around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Service alert: We’re asking all gas customers in #LowerMainland & #VancouverIsland to limit their natural gas use tonight and in the morning — our gas supply is reduced due to a possible issue on a Westcoast transmission line. More details herehttps://t.co/sFxwOIvOHe

— FortisBC (@FortisBC) February 1, 2023

Beardow assured the situation wasn’t dire, adding the plea to customers was just to ensure a stable energy supply in the meantime.

“There’s a lot of different levers we can pull in situations like this where supply is disrupted. We’re accessing additional gas volumes from the United States, we’re using energy stored at our LNG plants, which is a real big asset for us in times like this, and then, of course, asking for customers’ help with a little bit of conservation,” he told CityNews Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re looking for things that we can do to strengthen our supply and put ourselves in a good position overall.”

Later Wednesday afternoon, FortisBC told CityNews Westcoast Energy was increasing delivery on the pipeline, so the request for natural gas conservation was rescinded.