The last three power outages in and around the Sechelt area in the past two weeks, were the result of birds flying into a BC Hydro substation, according to Ted Olynyk, BC Hydro manager of community relations for Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.
Olynyk said birds were responsible for power outages July 13, 19 and 24. He noted, it was a Canada goose, which was responsible for the most recent outage.
“It does happen. I don't have exact stats for the Coast but I'm sure it's pretty similar across the province,” said Olynyk. “About seven per cent of all our outages are related to bird and animal contact.”
He explained it depends on the time of year. In the warmer months, its large birds with a wing span large enough to connect to the two lines running outside of the substation, which can create problems. Meanwhile, in colder months it’s sometimes rodents that find their way inside of a substation and “make contact.”
“Unfortunately, it goes from a seagull, something small, up to an eagle. Sometimes it’s been eagle contact because they have the wingspan,” he said. “And big rats. Those were typically around fish processing facilities. We've done a lot of mitigation where it's around a fish facility to lessen the impact of birds of prey like that coming in contact with our lines.”
He noted BC Hydro staff do their best with mitigation measures to lessen animal contact, including the installation of diverters, but said “unfortunately,” it's not something they’ve been able to eliminate.
“When it's near a fish processing plant or anything like that, we have mitigation measures and do our best to protect the large birds,” he said. “But in Sechelt, where the power went out, it’s the Land Between Two Waters, so both of them, [July 13 and 19] were very close to the beach.”
He added, the July 20 power outage was the result of a car hitting a pole.
“And that, we can’t control,” said Olynyk.
