North Coast B.C. electrification

The North Coast of B.C. is seeing significant growth in many areas, including ports, mining, clean fuels, technology and liquified natural gas. While industry has expressed an interest in using clean electricity to replace fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the potential electricity demand exceeds the capacity of the existing transmission lines and associated infrastructure.

To meet the growing demand, and to support the objectives of our Electrification Plan and the Government of B.C.'s CleanBC plan to lower climate-changing emissions, we need to expand our transmission system in the region including building new transmission lines.

Transmission system expansion also gives us a chance to advance reconciliation by partnering with First Nations on new approaches to infrastructure development, including exploring potential Indigenous co-ownership.
 

The North Coast of B.C. is supplied by 450 km of 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines from Williston Substation near Prince George to Skeena Substation near Terrace. Glenannan and Telkwa substations are also located along the 500 kV lines.

From Terrace, a 287 kV transmission line head north towards the Aiyansh substation near New Aiyansh, and 230 kV lines head south to Kitimat and west to Prince Rupert.

To meet growing industrial customer electricity demand, we're planning to build three new 500 kV transmission lines and associated infrastructure through two projects.

Prince George to Glenannan Transmission Project (PGGT)

• An approximately 170 km line from Williston to Glenannan substation with expansion of a capacitor station and Williston Substation.
  

Glenannan to Terrace Transmission Project (GTTT)

• An approximately 130 km line from Glenannan to Telkwa substation, and
• An approximately 145 km line from Telkwa substation to Skeena substation.
• Additional infrastructure requirements are being determined but will include expansions to or new capacitor stations and substation expansions.
   

North Coast Electrification project map

Select the map [PDF, 987 KB] to view it at a larger size.
 

We're in the early planning stage and the exact routes of these lines are not yet determined. We'll continue to communicate project information as it becomes available.

Based on customer demand and location, we may also need new transmission lines between:

• Terrace and Kitimat;
• Terrace and Aiyansh; and/or
• Terrace and Prince Rupert.

These plans are being further informed by the results of the Expression of Interest process.
 

The Prince George to Terrace Capacitors Project is under construction. Through that project, we're building three new capacitor stations along the existing 500 kV lines from Williston Substation near Prince George to Skeena Substation near Terrace to allow more electricity to pass through these lines.

That project is anticipated to be in service by 2028 and all electricity to be provided by the project is already subscribed.

We held an Expression of Interest process through which current and prospective customers in the North Coast of B.C could indicate their interest in taking electricity service from us and inform us of their electricity needs. The formal process closed April 11, 2023 and we are currently evaluating the submissions received. We'll use the information we gathered to help plan the future of our transmission infrastructure in the region.

If you didn't participate in the Expression of Interest but are interested in connecting to the BC Hydro transmission system west of Prince George, please email us for more information. Register to receive email updates about the project and the process for prospective customers.

We held in-person open houses in Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fraser Lake, Burns Lake, Smithers, and Terrace from May 8 to May 17. We also had two virtual open houses on May 23 and May 31.

As the project planning progresses, we'll be holding more open houses to discuss our plans with you. We're planning our next round of open houses around fall 2023.

Join us at an open house to learn and provide your feedback about:

• North Coast electrification.
• The Prince George to Glenannan Transmission Project, including route options under consideration.
• Our early plans for the Glenannan to Terrace Transmission Project.

We're in the early study phase of assessing interest from potential customers and gathering information about the transmission corridors for the proposed new transmission lines. We'll provide more information on the schedules of individual projects as they move ahead.