An Upper Fraser resident is pinning part of the blame for an ongoing string of extended power outages in the area on the new smart meters B.C. Hydro has installed.
In the six years prior to their introduction, Ray Morgan said he went through just two outages, both of which lasted just a few hours. But since the new meters were put in place, "it's never been the same," said Morgan, who lives next to the local substation.
"We've had over 30 power outages already just in the last 40 days, over 30," Morgan said. "And just three weeks ago, all the way to Longworth, there was no power for 36 hours."
Morgan was making his comments during the tail end of a power outage that lasted from 7 a.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday. He maintained the smart meters are not fully operational, so Hydro employees remain unable to know automatically whether the lights have gone out.
He also maintains residents in the rural community and its neighbour, Willow River, tend to be the last to see service restored because Hydro remains preoccupied with the more populated areas.
Hydro spokesman Bob Gammer said there is still some work to be done on the grid before the smart meters are fully operating and while he refrained from making any promises, the aim is to have the work completed by the end of this year.
"We will have the automatic notification when the outages start, when we have bad weather situations or whatnot," Gammer said. "But they're just not at that point yet."
Gammer conceded that there have been a "lot of outages this fall" in the Upper Fraser area but dismissed concern the smart meters are the cause of that problem.
Instead, he said they have been due "at least in part" to snow loads on the power lines.
"The snow builds up and it can then release and it causes the lines to sway and touch each other and that phase-to-phase contact can cause a fault and an outage," Gammer said.
Gammer also said Hydro had done a lot of vegetation work in the area and more is planned to prune away tree branches from the lines in the coming year.
"We're trying to tackle it from an equipment side of things and a vegetation management side of things and we think that in 2014 we certainly will have improved service and we'll get to the bottom of all these problems," Gammer said. "Snow load is part of it, but there are other things, like vegetation."
Gammer encouraged customers in the area to call Hydro at 1-888-POWERON not only when power goes out but also when it is back on so that workers can more quickly respond to areas where service remains down.
