Westbank Substation Upgrade Project

Upgrading Westbank Substation will allow us to:

• Increase the substation's capacity
• Replace end-of-life equipment
• Connect the West Kelowna Transmission Line when it's complete

In 2025, we purchased land east of the substation for the expansion.

BC Hydro acknowledges our presence on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded tm̓ xʷúlaʔxʷ (land) of the syilx Okanagan Nation.

The Westbank Substation Project is being developed in collaboration with the syilx Okanagan Nation.

Through a new relationship model based on mutual respect and collaboration called the Enduring Relationship, BC Hydro is committed to working with the syilx Okanagan Nation on projects within Okanagan territory and to ensuring that impacts to Aboriginal rights and/or title are identified and addressed. Specifically, BC Hydro is working with a Project Review Committee comprised of Okanagan communities and led by Westbank First Nation to better understand and address the environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic impacts of the Westbank Substation Upgrade Project and to make shared decisions to reduce the impacts of the project.

Westbank Substation is an existing substation on Shannon Lake Road near Kinsmen Athletic Park in West Kelowna.

The substation has been in service since the early 1970s, reliably serving more than 25,500 customers in Westbank First Nation, West Kelowna, Peachland, and surrounding communities. A 138-kilovolt transmission line from Nicola Substation, located east of Merritt, supplies electricity to the substation.

The project will ensure we can continue to provide clean, reliable energy to Westbank First Nation, West Kelowna, Peachland, and surrounding communities.

We'll manage construction to minimize impacts to neighbours.

Public safety

The safety of the public and our workers is always our top priority.

We'll follow all relevant safe work procedures at our work site.

Signage and traffic management personnel will help keep people moving safely around work zones.

Fire safety

We'll develop a fire safety plan before construction, including fire-fighting equipment and tools, communication plan, and evacuation routes and muster locations.

During summer, we'll monitor fire danger ratings and plan our work accordingly.

Traffic

We'll prepare a traffic management plan and seek approval from Westbank First Nation and the City of West Kelowna.

Expected impacts:

• When equipment and heavy machinery is arriving at the worksite, we may need to halt traffic on Shannon Lake Road for a few minutes.
• Our existing private access road bordering Green Acres mobile home park will remain closed during construction.

We welcome input from local businesses and groups so we can ask the contractor to consider their needs.

Noise

We'll complete our work in daytime hours as much as possible to avoid noise disruption.

Dust

We'll manage dust on site using water, approved suppressants, and gravel in heavy traffic areas.

We completed an environmental review of wildlife, fish habitat, water quality, vegetation, air quality, noise, wildfire risk, and archaeological resources.

As part of our Construction Environmental Management Plan, we are developing mitigation measures to reduce potential environmental effects during construction.

Mitigation measures are taken from BC Hydro standards and practices, provincial best management practices, guidelines, terms and conditions of project permits, and other applicable documents.

We will be ensuring environmental compliance throughout construction.

We began planning upgrades to Westbank Substation in 2018 and we first shared the news with the communities in fall 2018.

In 2025, we purchased land east of the substation to hold the expansion.

Vegetation clearing of the expansion area was carried out in October 2025.

We'll start preparing the site for construction in March 2026 and we expect construction to start in summer 2026.

The expected in-service date is 2028, with the new West Kelowna Transmission Line connected in around 2032.

We've been engaging with stakeholders, coordinating with all levels of government, and undertaking various studies and assessments throughout project planning. These activities will continue as we move into construction.