McLellan Substation Upgrade
McLellan Substation, built in the 1950s, converts 230kV electricity to 25kV to power homes and businesses in Surrey and Langley.
The Surrey/Langley region, one of Canada's fastest-growing areas, is receiving major upgrades at McLellan Substation to meet rising electricity demands. Serving over 49,000 customers, the station at 196 Street and 54 Avenue is being refurbished and expanded to ensure reliable power across the area and to support the growth.
What's new
July 2025
To ensure continued community access between 53 Avenue and Brydon Lagoon, we’ve re-established a trail east of the substation property. The walking trail through the trees on substation property is now closed to public access for safety.
For this substation expansion, we need to clear trees and vegetation from an area east of the existing substation. This work is expected to begin in August 2025.
Select the trail realignment map [PDF, 1.3 MB] to view it at a larger size.
We’re preserving a 550m² tree retention zone between the substation and Brydon Lagoon. This area ranges in width from 3 metres to 25 metres.
We’re also preserving about 175 metres of existing vegetation along our eastern property line, with widths ranging from 2 metres to 6 metres.
We are coordinating with the City of Langley regarding Brydon Lagoon. We’ll continue to work with local government and stakeholders as we develop a plan for landscaping and restoration after the substation expansion work is complete.
To ensure continued and reliable electricity in east Surrey and Langley City, we're upgrading the McLellan Substation located at 196 Ave and 54 St. The expansion will be completed in two phases:
Phase 1
- Refurbish existing feeder positions with new equipment to ensure continued reliability of power to the Surrey / Langley area.
- Add new feeder positions to support growth.
- Install a new shunt capacitor bank to relieve voltage constraints to support load growth in the Central Fraser Valley Regional Transmission System.
Phase 2
- Clear trees from substation property.
- Expand the substation to the east to add a new transformer and associated equipment.
- Add new feeder positions to utilize the additional capacity provided by the new transformer, thereby doubling the capacity of the substation.
McLellan Substation Upgrade
This map highlights the McLellan Substation upgrade and expansion areas.
Select the project map [PDF, 1.3 MB] to view it at a larger size.
The Surrey/Langley region is one of the fastest-growing regions in Canada. We're investing in upgrades at McLellan Substation, located at 196 Street and 54 Avenue, to meet the region's increasing electricity needs. We serve over 49,000 customers from this station, covering an area extending north to Willoughby, south to the U.S. border, west to Cloverdale, and east to 232 Street.
| Timeline | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Summer 2024 | Start adding new feeder positions to the existing feeder section. |
| Fall 2024 | Begin installation of shunt capacitor banks and feeder section expansion. |
| May 2025 | Complete Phase 1 work. |
| Spring 2025 | Start Phase 2 work preparation |
| August 2025 | Start vegetation clearing |
| Fall 2025 | Begin substation expansion including ground reinforcement and equipment installation. |
| Fall 2026 | Complete shunt capacitor bank installation, transformer and feeder section expansion. |
| Late 2029 | Station expansion in-service. |
Reports and documents
- Project factsheet (July 2024) [PDF, 1.4 MB]
- McLellan substation upgrade project map [PDF, 551 KB]
Contact us
If you'd like to learn more about the project, please contact us at:
Email: projects@bchydro.com
Phone: 604 623 4472
Toll free: 1 866 647 3334