Laneway Housing Connections

On July 28, 2009, the City of Vancouver passed a bylaw allowing residents to convert their laneway garages into rental housing as part of the EcoDensity initiative.

BC Hydro has received calls from customers from Vancouver and other municipalities in the Lower Mainland for more information. For answers to some common questions about the initiative, specifically those related to the process and cost of new electrical connections for laneway housing, please see the information below.

BC Hydro power and laneway houses

If a customer wants to build a laneway house and get a new connection, should they contact BC Hydro?
Yes. We always advise customers to get a connection estimate first so that they know the cost. Fill out the application for a "New Connection/Upgrade".

What is the cost of connecting new laneway homes to the BC Hydro grid?
Costs vary for individual customers. The cost of the connection is dependant on a number of factors, such as whether an extension and additional equipment are required and whether existing infrastructure must be relocated.

Due to the many variables, there is a large range of potential cost for this undergrounding work. Connection costs are calculated in accordance with the Electric Tariff.

Recent media reports have suggested that the cost of doing the connections can be up to $20,000. Why is the cost so high?
Connection costs vary depending on the specific situation. In situations where new infrastructure and equipment are required, the cost can be in the thousands (as high as $20,000, but that is extreme).

New additional infrastructure required for laneway housing in Vancouver must go underground as the City of Vancouver's Utilities Department's position is that it will not allow additional overhead infrastructure in Vancouver's lanes. As well, BC Hydro's experts have indicated that in most cases in Vancouver overhead distribution lines at a secondary voltage are at full capacity and BC Hydro must design for underground services to laneway homes.

What kind of work is required by BC Hydro? Why do you have to go underground?
BC Hydro's experts have indicated that in most cases in Vancouver overhead distribution lines at a secondary voltage are at full capacity and BC Hydro must design for underground services to laneway homes. This involves adding underground distribution systems to the lanes of Vancouver.

New additional infrastructure required for laneway housing must go underground as the City of Vancouver's Utilities Department states that BC Hydro cannot add any additional overhead infrastructure to Vancouver's lanes.

Why are these costs being passed on to individual customers and developers?
The Electric Tariff requires that BC Hydro recover the costs associated with hooking up new customers from the customer requesting the connection. This ensures BC Hydro ratepayers province-wide are not required to absorb the cost.

Connection costs are calculated in accordance with the Electric Tariff.

How much does a BC Hydro connection cost for regular homes?
The type of a new customer's home is irrelevant: what matters is the type of connection needed for that particular home.

In areas where the overhead lines are at capacity, we must go underground.
The service connection fee for an underground service is up to $1,700. That assumes that construction of an extension is not required. Where an extension is required the costs will be higher to cover the cost of constructing that extension.

What do you mean when you say the distribution lines are "at capacity"?
Vancouver is densely populated and in some areas, it is no longer technically possible to add more physical infrastructure to the existing poles and the lines. For example, BC Hydro often cannot connect a 200 Amperage service (which is what is most often requested by customers) mid-span which is the only physical option. The reason is that the service connection (conductor) is too heavy to be supported by the secondary line and would violate safety requirements.

There also may be no way of servicing buildings with an overhead line because the laneway house is high enough or too close to other buildings that BC Hydro can't meet safety clearance requirements.

Also, in a situation in which a municipality allows developers to build houses up to the lot line, there is not enough room for BC Hydro to meet its safety clearance requirements. For example, we need a metre of clearance between the meter and any other structure otherwise we wouldn't be able to physically get in and install the meter. In this situation, the meter can only be located in a limited number of locations which then define where BC Hydro can put the line.