B.C. wildfires causing flickering lights, outages for some BC Hydro customers
Wildfires near Clinton, B.C., are causing power outages and flickering lights as ash and smoke coat major transmission lines. BC Hydro reports that the situation is critical and current conditions prevent crews from performing maintenance on the affected infrastructure.
Why it matters
The fires highlight the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructure to climate-driven environmental disasters.
BC Hydro says major transmission lines are coated with ash and smoke from the wildfires burning near Clinton, B.C., which is causing flickering lights and power interruptions across the province.
“Part of the backbone of the grid is near where there’s a lot of fire activity in the Southern Interior,” Bob Gammer, BC Hydro community relations coordinator, told CKPG News.
“And smoke and ash is getting on some of our largest power lines down in the Southern Interior. That’s what’s leading to this flickering of the lights.”
Gammer said that due to the wildfire activity near the power lines, it’s not safe for crews to get in there and do anything with soot and ash buildup.
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