Weather prompts record 1.4 million electricity outages for BC Hydro customers in 2024

Nearly 1.4 million BC Hydro customers lost their power last year due to weather-related events, setting an all-time record for the utility.

BC Hydro says in a statement that the unprecedented number of outages was primarily due to three powerful storms that hit the South Coast and Vancouver Island in November and December.

The statement says a survey conducted for BC Hydro shows that nearly three-quarters of B.C. residents experienced at least one weather-related outage last year.

The Crown utility says the fall and winter storms were among the five largest such events in the past decade and were made worse by recent drought that left trees susceptible to damage, and to falling on power lines and other infrastructure.

Hydro spokeswoman Susie Rieder says the utility has been preparing for the effects of climate change on its system, tripling its budget for vegetation management around transmission lines.

She says that despite the increased frequency of outages, BC Hydro’s response times are improving, with a track record of restoring power to 90 per cent of customers within 24 hours.

“Most of those surveyed said that they had just an improvement in Hydro restoration efforts in the past year or so,” Rieder told 1130 NewsRadio.

For example, Rieder recalled the major windstorm in December, during which over 300,000 customers had their service interupted.

“In the first 24 hours of that big wind storm, we had 99 per cent of customers restored. So our crews are amazing. They work really hard, and we’re proud of their restoration efforts, and it’s great that customers are taking notice.”

She credits increased staffing, smart metering, and tree and vegetation management for improved response times. Even with speedy restoration, Rieder says it’s important to prepare for outages.

“It’s really difficult, especially with climate change, to know how severe a storm is going to be or how long outages could be,” she explained. “Have that emergency kit ready. Have a plan for your family and visit BChydro.com/outages for any updates on your outage.”

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