VANCOUVER – BC Hydro today filed its 2006-2007 Winter Storm Report  [PDF, 787 Kb] with the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC), which includes a detailed analysis of five major storms, the total cost of restoration, and a strategy to improve system resiliency and customer communications.

"The winter of 2006-2007 was one of the most severe storm seasons faced by British Columbians and by BC Hydro's electricity distribution system in recent memory," said Bob Elton, BC Hydro's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our analysis shows that while the vast majority of customers had their power restored in a timely fashion, we can certainly make improvements to our system that will help us in future storms and other emergency situations."

Key highlights of the report include:

• Between October 2006 and January 2007, B.C. was hit with five major storms with over 800,000 BC Hydro customers, or an estimated 1.6 million residents, experiencing at least one power outage in this period.
• The number of customers without power at any one moment peaked at 240,000 on December 15.
• At the height of the storms, the BC Hydro call centre received almost 40,000 calls per hour.
• The vast majority of affected customers (80%) were restored to service within 48 hours.
• Restoration of power and repair of damage from the five storms cost BC Hydro $36.7 million.

The Winter Storm Report  [PDF, 787 Kb] includes a number of recommendations for reducing the overall number and length of outages, and improving the customer experience during future storms. BC Hydro plans to spend $31.7 million this year on the first stage of this plan to improve system resiliency, customer communications and community preparation.

Key recommendations arising out the report include:

• Improve system resiliency by hardening up to 256 circuits that have historically been vulnerable to storm-related outages. These circuits represent 21% of our entire system, but they contribute over 50% of annual customer-hours lost. This plan includes increased vegetation management and technical modifications to distribution lines.
• Provide a fleet of up to 18 facility-scale back-up diesel generators to support communities during extended outages.
• Improve communication with customers throughout the restoration process by increasing BC Hydro's automated call-handling capacity to reduce or eliminate busy signals during large outages, improving the accuracy of estimated times of restoration and working with communities and customers to improve preparedness at the outset of storm season.
• Continue to update and improve internal BC Hydro plans and procedures for dealing with emergencies.

"We are also applying the lessons learned from the storms in our emergency planning in the event of floods," said Elton. "Notices to the public and internal training for Hydro employees have already taken place, and we are currently working closely with provincial agencies and local communities to ensure we are ready if flooding becomes a reality."

Contact:

Gillian Robinson Riddell

Media Relations

Phone: 604 623-4022

gillian.robinson@bchydro.com

Winter Storm Report

• In the winter of 2006-07, B.C. faced one of the most severe winter storm seasons in recent history. Between October 2006 and January 2007, B.C. was hit with five major storms.
• More than 800,000 BC Hydro customers, or an estimated 1.6 million residents, experienced at least one power outage during this period.
• In Fiscal 2007, 14.7 million of the 19.6 million customer-hours lost due to power outages were storm-related. Prior to this, the highest total number of customer-hours lost (for all causes) was 7.4 million in Fiscal 2004.
• Four of the five major storms affected communities from Hope to the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. At the height of the storm on December 15, the number of customers without power at any one moment peaked at 240,000.
• More than 170,000 customers in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island were affected by three of the storms, and some customers were without power for up to six days.
• The five major storms experienced in the winter of 2006-07 cost BC Hydro $36.7 million.
• On January 24, 2007, the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) asked BC Hydro to report on its performance by May 31.

Storm Response and Restoration Performance

• Power outages were caused by storm-related damage to BC Hydro's transmission and distribution systems. Wind and heavy snow caused trees and branches to fall on power lines. Heavy rain throughout much of the winter season loosened soil and weakened root systems which made trees more susceptible to falling onto power lines when faced with gale-force winds.
• For all the storms, the vast majority of affected customers (80%) were restored to service within 48 hours.
• During regular hours, our call capacity is approximately 6,500 calls per hour. At the height of the storms, the call volume grew to almost 40,000 calls per hour.

Recommendations for Improvement

• BC Hydro plans to spend $31.7 million in Fiscal 2008 to improve system resiliency and customer communications. (Note: this amount includes $23.5 million in capital expenditures and $8.18 million in non-capital expenditures.)
• BC Hydro is planning to spend $225 - $250 million over five years (Fiscal 2008 to Fiscal 2012) to implement the recommendations outlined in the storm report for reducing the overall number of outages, reducing the length of each outage, and improving the customer experience when there is an outage.
• BC Hydro has identified three key areas for improvement:
  1. Improve communication with customers throughout the restoration process.
     • Increase BC Hydro's automated call-handling capacity through the use of a third-party Interactive Voice Response system to reduce or eliminate busy signals.
     • Improve the quality of outage information – eg., accuracy of estimated times of restoration.
     • Improve customer and community outage preparedness.
  2. Improve internal organizational processes for storms and other emergencies:
     • Continue to update plans and procedures.
     • Practice storm room roles and responsibilities.
     • Train all personnel involved in emergency management roles.
  3. Improve the resiliency of the system:
     • Provide a fleet of up to 18 facility-scale back-up diesel generators to support communities during extended outages.
     • Improve the resiliency of circuits that are most vulnerable to storm damage by investing in up to 256 circuits that have historically been vulnerable to storms. These circuits represent only 21% of our entire system, but they contribute over 50% of annual customer-hours lost.
     • The investment in system resiliency includes more vegetation management, technical modifications, increasing the capacity of existing lines, building back-up circuits, and adding more automated switching devices.