Tag Archives: BC Hydro on Cortes

Business, Indigenous Nations

QXMC: The Squirrel Cove Project

It has been almost two years since a parcel of land the Klahoose acquired in Squirrel Cove was added to the reserve. Shortly after that, the  Klahoose development corporation (QXMC) discussed plans to develop 30-40 campsites. Then there was talk of a gas station. 

All of these ideas became much more real about a month ago, when a contractor started falling trees. Now there is a cleared area and freshly drilled well on the part of the property west of Squirrel Cove Road. Across the road, to the east, the path of a future driveway is laid out as a u-shaped clearing. There is also a second well.  

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Energy, Weather

Keeping the grid up on Cortes Island

Trying to keep the grid up has been very challenging these past three weeks. BC Hydro crews were constantly on call throughout the region, since Christmas Eve, repairing power outages caused by falling trees and snow encrusted power lines. Sub-zero temperatures meant skyrocketing heating bills. When local resident John Sprungman recently asked why his lights were flickering, a BC Hydro repair technician informed him that Cortes Island is trying to draw more power than the infrastructure on Cortes can handle. BC set a new record for peak electricity demand between 5 and 6 PM on December 27th, 2021: 10,902 megawatts.

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Weather

Behind the scenes at BC Hydro repairs after recent ‘weather bomb’

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

The historic storm that hit the Pacific Northwest region on Oct. 24 caused loss of power to tens of thousands of households across the province. The storm has been called a “weather bomb” by the Weather Network, and it set the record for lowest barometric pressure of 942.6 millibars recorded offshore near Tofino.

Cortes experienced one of the longest island-wide power outages in recent years, which lasted close to 48 hours in some neighbourhoods. Most people lost power early Sunday afternoon and waited until mid-morning on Tuesday for electricity that, in many cases, also enables running water.

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Energy

peculiarities of the Cortes Island electric grid

BC Hydro’s 2020 Annual report provides insight, but local knowledge is needed to understand the Cortes Island electric grid.

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Disaster

Quadra and Cortes Islands without power overnight

Campbell River Mirror, Local Journalism Reporter

With ferries cancelled, BC Hydro says that customers on Quadra and Cortes Island will be left without power overnight (Jan. 5). 

According to BC Hydro, 8,963 customers on North Vancouver Island were without power as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the majority of outages concentrated in Tofino, Campbell River and Courtenay. 

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