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North Coast B.C. electrification

We're planning to build new and expand existing transmission infrastructure from Prince George to Terrace to help us meet the growing demand from customers for clean, reliable electricity to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to support the objectives of our Electrification Plan and the Government of B.C.'s CleanBC plan.

What's new

March 2024

We're working to identify the leading  the routes for the Prince George to Glenannan Transmission (PGGT) project and Glenannan to Terrace Transmission (GTTT) projects.

Join us at an upcoming open house for an update on the PGGT, GTTT, and other North Coast electrification initiatives.

In-person open houses

Drop by any of these locations anytime between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the dates listed. No registration required for in-person events.

Prince George
Monday, March 11
Sandman Signature Hotel
Great Room
2990 Recplace
Houston
Tuesday, March 12 
Community Futures
2430 Butler Ave
Smithers
Wednesday, March 13
Prestige Hudson Bay Lodge
Alpine Room
3251 East Highway 16
Terrace
Thursday, March 14
Sportsplex
Banquet Room
3320 Kalum Street
Vanderhoof
Monday, March 18
Integris Community Center
Multi-purpose Room
186 Columbia Street West
Fraser Lake
Tuesday, March 19
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 274
165 Chowsunket Street


The focus of the Prince George and Vanderhoof events with be PGGT and the focus of the Houston, Smithers and Terrace events will be GTTT. However, information on both projects and other North Coast electrification initiatives will be available at all open houses. Detailed routing information for both PGGT and GTTT will be available at the Fraser Lake open house.

Virtual events available

If you can’t attend an in-person event, we’re having two virtual events. To register for a virtual event, email us at projects@bchydro.com by March 19.

Thursday, March 21
6:30 to 8 p.m.

Tuesday, March 26
6:30 to 8 p.m.

Early engagement with our Indigenous partners on PGGT and GTTT is also underway and this aligns with our commitment to co-design the project environmental review and explore Indigenous co-ownership of the proposed new transmission lines, as well other means of Indigenous participation.

See what we're planning for details.

The North Coast of B.C. is seeing significant growth in many areas, including ports, mining, hydrogen, 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 infrastructure in the region including building new transmission lines, expanding substations, and expanding or upgrading substations, and expanding capacitor stations.

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

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, 287 kV transmission lines head north towards the Aiyansh substation near Gitlaxt'aamiks (formerly New Aiyansh), south to Kitimat and west to Prince Rupert.

To meet growing industrial customer electricity demand, we're planning to build new 500 kV transmission lines and associated infrastructure from Prince George to Terrace and thermally upgrading the existing 500 kV transmission lines from Prince George to Terrace. We may also need to expand our transmission system beyond Terrace.

New 500 kV transmission infrastructure from Prince George to Terrace

We're planning to build the new 500 kV transmission lines and associated infrastructure from Prince George to Terrace 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 for both projects are being confirmed but will include fibre optic cable installed on new or existing transmission structures, expansion of capacitor stations and upgrades or expansion of substation.

North Coast Electrification project map

North Coast Electrification project map

Select the map [PDF, 1.7 MB] to view it at a larger size.
 

For both projects, we're working to identify and assess route options that are within existing BC Hydro rights-of-way or parallel to them, where possible, to mitigate potential project effects. We've identified potential routes within the corridors being studied and are working to identify a leading route for each project. We'll continue to communicate project information as it becomes available. Additional information on the projects is available on the project specific webpages for which links are provided above.

Thermal upgrades of existing 500 kV transmission lines from Prince George to Terrace

To make the most effective use of the existing 500 kV infrastructure from Prince George to Terrace, we’re looking at making thermal upgrades along the lines so that they can carry the same amount of electricity as the new lines. This will ensure that we can reliably deliver the electricity needed to the North Coast even if one of the lines is out of service.

Current carried along a line causes it to heat up and sag. At the higher current level, there are existing areas where there won't be enough clearance between the lines and the ground to operate safely. To ensure we can continue to safely deliver electricity, we're working to identify areas where we need to increase the clearance between the lines and the ground.

There are various ways of doing this including "tightening" the existing lines to raise them, removing high spots (e.g., boulders or rock outcrops), moving infrastructure (e.g., roads) to areas with more clearance, lifting the lines by adding new mid-span towers, raising the towers by inserting steel sections, or rebuilding the towers. Once we've identified where more clearance is needed, we'll determine the best way to address each site.

Although we're starting the studies related to this work, most of the upgrading of the lines is not expected to start until after the new lines are operational.

Transmission system expansion past Terrace

Based on the level and location of potential demand identified in the EOI responses, new transmission infrastructure may also be needed north, south, and west of Terrace. To help determine future needs, we studied different demand scenarios (e.g., amount and location of demand) to help us understand what the existing infrastructure can handle and the type of new infrastructure that may be needed.

Studies indicate the following infrastructure is needed; however, this will ultimately depend on which customer projects advance:

  • South: a new line to Kitimat built to 500 kV standards but initially operated at 287 kV and a new substation.
  • North: a new 500 kV line to Gitlaxt'aamiks (formerly New Aiyansh) and a new substation.
  • West: a new 287 kV substation and new line extended from Prince Rupert to the port.

We're still in the early stages of this work and the process for how to advance any infrastructure beyond Terrace needs further discussion with governments, First Nations, and stakeholders.

The Prince George to Terrace Capacitors Project (PGTC) is under construction. Through this 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. PGTC is anticipated to be in service by 2028 and electricity to be provided by the project is already fully subscribed.

We're also undertaking the Northwest Substations Outage Mitigation project to mitigate potential outages by replacing equipment at Minette, Skeena, Glenannan, and Williston substations and working to interconnect customers to our system.

We continue to engage with our current and prospective customers who responded to our Expression of Interest to indicate their interest in taking electricity service from us and inform us of their electricity needs. 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.

Engagement on the projects we're planning to support North Coast electrification is ongoing, and we look forward to discussing our progress with you.

In March 2024, we’re hosting virtual and in-person open houses in Prince George, Houston, Smithers, Terrace, Vanderhoof and Fraser Lake. See the top of the page for details. We’ll post presentation materials here afterwards.

In spring 2023 we held in-person open houses in Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fraser Lake, Burns Lake, Smithers, and Terrace and also hosted two virtual open houses to discuss PGGT and GTTT. See reports and documents below to view the information presented at the open houses.

As planning for PGGT and GTTT and other North Coast electrification initiatives progresses, we'll hold more open houses to discuss our plans with you.

Please feel free to contact us at any time.

Our current plan is for PGGT to be in operation by 2030 and GTTT to be in operation by 2032.

For other potential infrastructure expansion or upgrades, we’ll provide information on the schedules of individual projects if and when they move ahead.

Contact us

If you'd like to learn more about North Coast Electrification, please contact us at:

Email: projects@bchydro.com
Toll free: 1 866 647 3334

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Receive updates and information about North Coast electrification by subscribing below. If you'd like to sign up to receive updates about the North Coast Expression of Interest, please visit the Expression of Interest page.

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