Update: BC Hydro says 10 outages caused by transmission line that went out of service

UPDATE, 2:05 P.M. TUESDAY: Power has since been restored to over 13,000 customers in Chilliwack, Popkum, Agassiz, District of Kent, Seabird Island, Fraser Canyon and the Sunshine Valley/Highway 3 corridor southeast of Hope.

BC Hydro provided a statement to Fraser Valley Today about the cause: “There were 10 separate outages affecting Chilliwack, Hope, Kent and Harrison, impacting approximately 13,000 customers. The outages occurred when a transmission line went out of service during planned switching work on the transmission system, affecting several substations in the region. Our crews worked quickly to restore service, and power has now been restored to all affected customers.”

Original story: 

CHILLIWACK/HOPE/AGASSIZ/SEABIRD ISLAND/FRASER CANYON – Over 13,000 customers are without power in the eastern Fraser Valley and parts of the Fraser Canyon Tuesday afternoon.

According to BC Hydro’s online dashboard, over 13,000 customers lost power between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesday.

The following outages have been reported on the BC Hydro dashboard:

• 1,801 customers in the Seabird Island area
• 1,070 customers in Agassiz (District of Kent)
• 1,703 customers in Popkum, Bridal Falls and Rosedale
• 168 in the Laidlaw area (between Chilliwack and Hope)
• 1,875 customers in Hope and the Silver Creek area of Hope
• 1,994 customers northwest of Hope and Dogwood Valley area of the Fraser Canyon
• 75 customers in the Spuzzum area
• 160 customers from Kanaka Bar to south of Lytton
• An additional 574 customers in the Fraser Canyon
• 1,874 customers in the Sunshine Valley southeast of Hope
• 1,731 customers in the Harrison Hot Springs area

This list is subject to change, but it amounts to approximately 13,025 customers.

The cause of the outage has now been listed as a transmission circuit failure. Crews have been assigned as of 1:21 p.m.