Shortly after 6 p.m. on Aug. 13, there was a transmission circuit failure, which caused a massive power outage, affecting more than 11,000 customers from Port Renfrew to Colwood.
I live in Shirley, and our power was not restored until about 4:45 a.m. Aug. 14.
With all of the recent BC Hydro rate hikes presumably to pay for upgrades and repairs, and supposed improvements to the system, transmission circuit failures are unacceptable. And once again, the communities of Port Renfrew, Jordan River and Shirley were the last to have our power restored.
Last November, we were without power for five days after a storm. A crew was on-site fairly quickly, but they were taken off-site and sent elsewhere. It was like we were forgotten. They didn't return for five days.
No electricity, no landline telephone, no internet for five days, even though crews were brought in from all over the province ahead of time.
It is my hope that BC Hydro will rectify this situation as soon as possible. These communities deserve better service during power outages and storms.
Helene Harrison
Shirley
