BC Hydro says 2024 was a record breaking year for weather-related power outages

BC Hydro says 2024 was a record breaking year for weather-related power outages and the company will be spending $150 million for preventative maintenance.

Last year, over 1.4 million BC Hydro customers experienced weather-related power outages, the most in BC Hydro’s history.

According to the company, the large number of outages were due to three powerful storms that hit the South Coast and Vancouver Island in November and December.

BC Hydro said those were among the top five largest in the past decade, resulting in about one million customer outages combined.

“The increased frequency of severe storms has resulted in more weather-related power outages for communities across BC over the past five years,” BC Hydro said in a news release.

“A new survey conducted on behalf of BC Hydro reveals nearly three-quarters of British Columbians experienced at least one weather-related power outage last year.”

According to the news release, a wind storm in December 320,000 BC Hydro customers had their power impacted.

The 2024 storms were made worse by drought-riddled trees and vegetation that impacted BC Hydro infrastructure.

Susie Rieder, BC Hydro spokesperson, said the company has tripled its budget this year for vegetation management on transmission and distribution lines in an effort to avoid such large power outages.

The budget now sits at $150 million for vegetation management, which is a significant increase from the $50 million budget a decade ago.

Rieder added that the company’s response time is also improving.

During that December windstorm, 99% or 3150,000 customers had their power restored within the first 24 hours, BC Hydro said.

“Using valuable lessons learned from each major storm event, field teams are constantly improving their response, including strategically pre-deploying crews, better dispatching of crews during a major event and quickly acting to deploy support resources to where they are needed most,” the company said.

The company said smarter meter data, enhanced forecast and improved communication with customers also contributed to better response times.

With snow in the forest for parts of BC this weekend, BC Hydro encourages people to prepare for potential power outages by preparing a 72-hour emergency kit.