Power has been restored to West Revelstoke, which suffered an outage on Friday after a passing freight train somehow snagged a Telus line and pulled down four power-line poles.
“It was a challenging situation due to the steep terrain and heavy snow conditions that limited crew access to the site,” said BC Hydro’s Community Liaison Jennifer Walker-Larsen, adding that power was restored to the 50 customers in the area shortly after 8 pm Saturday.
She said BC Hydro re-designed and improved the damaged section of power line with close cooperation from Ministry of Transportation to prevent future similar incidents. Eight new poles were installed next to Highway 1 for easier line crew access and higher poles were used to increase line clearance from the railway track.
“BC Hydro thanks West Revelstoke customers for their patience especially with the cold weather,” Walker-Larsen said.
To report an outage, call 1-888-POWERON or *HYDRO on your mobile phone. Automatic notification will be available through smart meters once all meters have been installed and the system is fully operational over the next year. Also make note of BC Hydro’s mobile-friendly website bchydro.com/mobile on your smart phone. The site provides updates on when power will be restored.