Residents and business owners of Field, Golden and surrounding areas are frustrated with the power outages experienced over the last five weeks. This frustration has landed squarely in the lap of BC Hydro.

Diane Tammen, community relations manager, for BC Hydro says that outages occur for a variety of reasons including, transmission outages, equipment failure, high winds/storms & trees on wires and motor vehicle accidents.

“The recent outages in Field have been as a result of a combination of all of these.”

Karla Gaffney, a bed and breakfast owner and resident of Field, says this explanation is feeble as she knows the majority of the problems are coming from trees falling on the power lines.

“It [the outages] is getting beyond unacceptable,” says Gaffney, adding, “CP Rail, Parks Canada and BC Hydro need to get together and resolve this issue. The Pine Beetle kill is what is causing a lot of the problems. The devastation runs from Yoho West gate to the Town of Field and can be seen quite visibly in the area.”

Gaffney went on to say that the power lines are very close to the standing dead trees and it is usually a fallen tree on the line that causes the outages in Field.

“The trees are on federal Crown land and they are making this problem worse year after year,” she says.

Gaffney says business has been affected by the power outages.

“We can manage through the brown-outs by taking refrigerated goods into our own fridge or supply our guests with a cooler and ice,” she says, adding that others can’t fare as well. As of Friday July 31, some residents in Field were going on 13 hours with no power with the estimations not being until 4 p.m. that day.

“There is no heat and the town has been reaching single digits overnight in the past week. Because of that, businesses like ours can’t charge our guests full rates. I also know the Kicking Horse Lodge has lost a tremendous amount of business over the last month.”

Gaffney says the frustration is growing in the community and the business owners association of Field is speaking out because they are losing the most out of this issue.

“Outages have been generally going on during peak meal times, and I know that is out of anyone’s control, but we waited 20 hours today (Friday the 31) to get power back. We have been trying to work with BC Hydro to get them to realize the enormity of the problem.”

Gaffney says she has contacted the highest levels, including the Superintendent of Yoho, Lake Louise and Kooteny Field unit for Parks Canada.

“It semmed that she was not informed about the level that it has reached here. This has been the worst year and July was definitley the worst month for power outages. A meeting is scheduled for September for Field residents to meet with BC Hydro, but now a lot of us business owners want the meeting to happen sooner.”

Gaffney says she and other residents don’t believe that the new power line proposed by British Colmbia transmission Corporation (BCTC) will solve the community’s problems.

“Our biggest issue is the standing dead trees.”

Tammen says that removing the danger trees in Yoho National Park are a priority for BC Hydro.

“BC Hydro has been working with Parks Canada and an Environmental Assessment was required before removal of the danger trees could begin. The Environmental Assessment is expected to be completed by mid-August. Once completed it will be reviewed by Parks Canada prior to approvals and permitting being granted.”

Tammin said that there are other factors that impact Field.

“Field is fed from Golden by a radial distribution line which means that the power cannot be switched or re-routed while repairs are made. Outage restoration and line maintenance for the community of Field is provided by the Power Line Technicians in Golden with assistance from Invermere, and Cranbrook depending on the work required. Service to Field is complex because there are a number of players who share different responsibilities in the Field area.”

Tammen says BC Hydro must work with CP Rail regarding outage restoration access and scheduled maintenance. BC Hydro is required to schedule access and transportation to a portion of the line through CP Rail.

“CP Rail maintains a portion of the right-of-way and BC Hydro maintains a portion of the right-of-way. We have a written agreement with CP Rail that they will maintain or remove all vegetation within their right of way that may have an impact on our system (it can be anywhere from 50-100 feet on both sides of track centreline). Beyond this right-of-way BC Hydro is responsible. Based on our initial assessment this would be a shared cost/responsibility to remove the forest health trees.”

She says that current weather conditions and the extreme fire hazard would currently prevent access and tree removal activities in the area.

“This is the case in many parts of the province and we know of no exception for the Field area.”

Field is also impacted by tranmission outages in the Columbia Valley. BC Hydro representatives are arranging to meet with representatives of the community of Field. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 16.

“At the meeting we want to provide and receive information and discuss the community’s concerns. The meeting will also include understanding emergency preparedness and response plans for Field, ways for BC Hydro to enhance outage communications with the community during significant outages, and identify critical infrastructure and facilities.”

Tammin says that the British Columbia Transmission Corporation’s (BCTC’s) proposed Invermere to Golden line could significantly help improve reliability in Field.

BCTC has also been invited to attend the meeting to provide information about the Columbia Valley Transmission project and reliability benefits to the area as a whole.

Head over to Golden and the frustration continues. There have already been three small outages in the first week of August.

Tammin says the cause of outages recently in Golden were lightening strikes on the transmission system on August 4, 5 and 6.

“These are off/on outages generally lasting under a minute while the system resets itself.”

Information on the exact number of outages in July in Field and area will be available mid-August when BC Hydro receives the hard data for the previous month.

Tammen says that a BC Hydro Vegetation Maintenance manager is currently in the Golden/Field area conducting an up-to-date hazard tree removal assessment in Yoho Park.

BC Hydro also met with CP Rail and is planning to meet with representatives of Parks Canada.

“Representatives of BC Hydro and Parks Canada are scheduled to meet on September 3 to discuss the work required, tree removal and access.”

Tammen says that BC Hydro is working closely with both CP Rail and Parks Canada to co-ordinate efforts in moving this project forward.

More information will be available following the meeting on September 3.