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Be prepared for storm season. Safety tips and videos

News release

2024: A record-breaking year for storm outages with improved restoration times

VANCOUVER: Despite 2024 having been a record-breaking year for weather-related power outages, BC Hydro’s response times have improved, with many customers noticing faster restoration after major events.  

The increased frequency of severe storms has resulted in more weather-related power outages for communities across B.C. over the past five years. A new survey1 conducted on behalf of BC Hydro reveals nearly three-quarters of British Columbians experienced at least one weather-related power outage last year. In 2024, over 1.4 million BC Hydro customers experienced weather-related power outages – the most in its history.

The unprecedented number of outages was primarily due to three powerful storms that hit the South Coast and Vancouver Island in November and December. These storms were among the top five largest in the past decade, resulting in about one million customer outages combined. The storms were exacerbated by years of drought that left trees and vegetation across the province dry, damaged, and more susceptible to falling into BC Hydro infrastructure, causing outages.

“BC Hydro has been preparing extensively for the effects of climate change on our system, including tripling our budget this year for vegetation management on transmission and distribution lines to battle the effects of drought,” said Susie Rieder, BC Hydro spokesperson. “Despite the increased frequency of storms and outages, BC Hydro’s response time is improving. We have maintained our track record of restoring power to 90 per cent of customers within 24 hours – with about three-quarters restored within less than 12 hours.”

While 2024 was the worst year for outages, BC Hydro crews were able to restore power more quickly. The quick response time by BC Hydro crews during fall storm events could be why three-quarters who have experienced an unplanned outage rated BC Hydro’s response time as good or very good, and one-third feel BC Hydro’s response time has improved. For example, during a major windstorm in December 2024, in the first 24 hours, about 315,000 customers had their service restored – or about 99 per cent of the more than 320,000 impacted customers in the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. 

To further improve restoration times and provide better information to customers during power outages, BC Hydro has:

  • Improved field response: Using valuable lessons learned from each major storm event, field teams are constantly improving their response, including strategically pre-deploying crews, better dispatching of crews during a major event and quickly acting to deploy support resources to where they are needed most.
  • Increased vegetation management year-round: Identifying and removing trees and vegetation that could pose a problem during storm season, especially important because of the ongoing drought. BC Hydro has tripled its budget this year for vegetation management on transmission and distribution lines to combat the effects of drought – spending about $150 million compared to the $50 million a decade ago.
  • Benefitted from smart meter data: Smart meters provide real-time information to help BC Hydro validate the size of an outage and ensure that all customers are restored. This helps provide a more efficient response and faster restoration times. 
  • Enhanced meteorological models: Improved weather models help BC Hydro better predict the impact of severe weather, helping to improve resource allocation and ensuring that BC Hydro has the right crews and equipment in the right places. This also helps BC Hydro provide better information to its customers about the potential impacts ahead of major weather events.
  • Improved communications with customers: BC Hydro is continuously enhancing its communication with customers before, during and after storm events to ensure customers have the most up-to-date information. For example, it has updated its mobile website to provide more detail about the status of its crews’ restoration efforts to help customers feel more at ease.

With snow in the forecast this week, BC Hydro is also encouraging customers to be prepared for a power outage by:

  • Having an emergency kit: Supplies should last for at least 72 hours and include a flashlight, extra batteries, first aid kit, non-perishable foods, bottled water and an external power bank for phones and other devices.
  • Knowing where to get the latest outage updates: Customers can visit the BC Hydro website from their mobile device for the most up-to-date information.
  • Understanding the dangers of electrical equipment: A downed or damaged power line should always be considered an emergency even if it is not smoking, sparking, or making a buzzing sound. Always assume the line is live, stay back at least 10 metres (the length of a bus) and call 9-1-1 to report.

For more information on outage preparation, visit bchydro.com/outages.

1 Online survey conducted from January 17th – 21st, 2025 among a representative sample of 817 British Columbians 18+ who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. Margin of error +/-3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Contact:
BC Hydro Media Relations
e. media@bchydro.com
p. 604 928 6468