Hydro outlines power generation profile for Podunk

With memories of avalanches and power blackouts still apparently haunting the locals, BC Power made a presentation to City Council last week that provided a bit of detail as to the status of Prince Rupert's power generation capabilities and back up plans should trouble come calling again.

With Industrial development and Port Expansion always a hopeful thought, council was inquisitive as to the nature of our current system and if it is capable of handling any extra demands that may come its way. While BC Hydro explained that at the moment the system is stable and capable of handling the demand, they would like to expand the capacity between Terrace and Prince Rupert with an eye on the future.

The Daily News provided a full report on the presentation in Tuesday's paper.

Hydro presentation generates interest

Power Provider explains how it tries to ensure a constant supply to city
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The generating system is working.

Pages one and three

That's the basic message representatives from B.C. Hydro had for both the Prince Rupert city council last Monday, and again on Tuesday inside Port Edward Council chambers.
Jim Norcross, Andrew Thomas, and Bob Gammer all met with the councils to explain the operation of the Rupert generating system, which acts as the main system for Prince Rupert and its surrounding area.

Norcross used April 2007 as an introduction to the presentation, proving how important the sub-station is. On April 2 of that year, an avalanche took out the main transmission line to Rupert (connected from Terrace), while at the same time, a back-up line supplying power from Falls River and Brown was out of commission due to the late March snowstorm.

"The area load was supported the entire time by the RPG site (out on Highway 16)," he said.
The site was originally built between 1972-75.

"The original role was to provide a peaking capacity and emergency standby capacity to support Prince Rupert and Port Edward," said Norcross.

But while the sub-station successfully ensured Rupert didn't go without power during those two weeks - with the only problem being that clocks sometimes ran too fast, said Norcross - the generator, like all of the other main stations B.C. Hydro runs across the province, was almost maxed out.

"B.C. Hydro's current generation system is reaching maximum capacity," said Norcross.
"The challenge is to evaluate what we can do with it," said Norcross.

Since the avalanche, however, B.C. Hydro has taken steps to ensure the lines of communication don't fail, so they can address emergencies like the April 2007 incident more expediently.

"We just had a re-certification and (have come up with) an environment management plan in place, and a complete spill response plan," said Norcross. "So now, we'll have communication, whether the line goes down or not."

B.C. Hydro wants to update its line from Terrace to Rupert, aware of the increasing energy demands with the potential expansion of the port, which both councils asked about.
Port Edward councillor Murray Kristoff asked about the capacity of the line that connects Terrace to Rupert.

"I've heard that if this expands, or that expands, there may not be enough power," he said.
But Thomas quickly nixed that fear. "The load for Rupert is (currently) less than 46 mega-watts," he said. "And the line is 150 megawatts."

Port Edward Chief Administrative Officer Ron Bedard said that it was fortunate the port wasn't up and running during the April 2007 situation.

"If the port had been operating at that time, it would have been real close," he said.
Rupert councillor Kathy Bedard had similar concerns.

"Do you see, in the foreseeable future, us having full-time capacity ... that is always a concern," she said.

But Norcross said that B.C. Hydro has been proactive in watching the port's development, and believes the corporation is ready to handle the extra pressure on energy demands.

"We need to (have) the capability to support that, and back it up," he said. "It's important to meet that need in the future. We see this area as very important to B.C. Hydro. We're always looking 20 years ahead."

Norcross also went over how B.C. Hydro has updated its safety plan, including emergency response plans, and a public safety management plan. He also said that B.C. Hydro is working on a strategic five-year plan to help the corporation handle the ever-increasing energy demands of the province.