Editor:
I’m becoming outraged by all the recent Hydro outages. I think others are, too. I’d bet BC Hydro is fed up with them as well, not to mention those heroes who head out to fix things at all hours, in all kinds of weather.
Here are the reasons I’m becoming outraged:
By my records, the frequency and intensity of storms are steadily increasing, as is the number of outages.
Outages cost BC Hydro lost revenue and huge expense fixing them. Because BC Hydro must maintain steady dividends to its shareholder – the provincial government – all such costs are passed on to us consumers in the form of rate hikes. Outages are not just outrageous for us; they are expensive for us, too.
When I moved to the Sunshine Coast 50 years ago, Hydro lines margined the highway much as they do today: naked, uninsulated conductors strung between poles alongside walls of dense, second-growth trees – most of which were no taller than the wires beside them.
Yes, things have certainly changed over 50 years: lots of replacement poles carry the wires today; new installations have separated the circuit into more manageable units. And those dense, second-growth trees are now two, even three times higher than the wires, big enough to begin their natural thinning process when some die or are taken down by the wind, falling across the Hydro wires. Welcome to “outage outrage.” There’s a lot more to come.
What’s to be done about it? Felling all trees within range of the wires would work for sure. Burying all Hydro lines would also work. Perhaps the best solution is for us all to get off Hydro altogether, install our own solar/wind/water-flow systems and kiss ever-increasing Hydro-bills goodbye for good! Our choice.
Richard Tomkies, Halfmoon Bay
