EU21 Emergency/Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery

BC Hydro is committed to providing electricity reliably and safety. We have risk management programs specifically designed to address the safety of the public, our employees and the reliable supply of electricity. These programs include dam safety, safety by design, employee safety, public safety, emergency management, business continuity management and enterprise risk management as well as programs to ensure the resilience of our generation, transmission and distribution systems.

The BC Hydro emergency management program is based on Emergency Management best practices including CSA-Z1600 and addresses the requirements of the Provincial Emergency Program Act (RSBC 1996, Chapter 111) and the BC Water Act – Dam Safety Regulation. The business continuity program is based on CSA Z1600 / BS25999 and is aligned with the emergency management program.

We have a defined emergency response structure based on the British Columbia Emergency Response Management System (BCERMS) model and supported by response plans and business continuity plans to carry out and sustain critical internal operations. The emergency management structure is used to respond to all significant emergencies.

BC Hydro has multiple emergency communication channels that are designed to enable communication with internal staff, field crews, provincial emergency operations centres and key customers. These mechanisms include a private phone network, a private radio network, the public cellular networks and purpose built web-based tools.

BC Hydro works closely with the communities we serve to establish restoration priorities within the requirements of the Provincial Emergency Program Act. We have load curtailment agreements in place with our large industrial customers as a safety valve to ensure reliability of supply to these communities.