By Time Chronicle Staff
FortisBC is advising power customers east of Osoyoos that it will be turning off the power on Thursday, July 10 and 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The outage will impact about 500 customers east of Osoyoos, Mt Baldy, Bridesville and west of Rock Creek.
The power provider said the outage is required to allow crews to conduct priority equipment upgrades and help ensure continued reliability for local customers. This is part of the routine work FortisBC does to maintain the electricity system and is not a Public Safety Power Shutoff it said in reference to its controversial plan announced earlier this year to preemptively shut down parts of its grid during wildfires.
“We recognize the inconvenience to our customers and appreciate their patience and understanding as we complete the work as quickly and safely as possible.” For updates on this and other outages, FortisBC encourages its customers to view the company’s outage map at outages.fortisbc.com.
FortisBC is also reminding customers to always be prepared for power outages and stay safe in the event a downed power pole is encountered. Outages can happen at any time of the year and for a variety of reasons, it said. This includes winter storms, thunderstorms, motor vehicle accidents, trees falling on power lines, unplanned maintenance and wildfires.
- It’s important to remain prepared and know what to do before, during and after an outage to stay safe and protect your equipment.
- Have an emergency kit with items like flashlights, a battery operated radio and fresh water on hand in an area that is easily accessible.
- Make sure to stay at least 10 metres (33 feet or the length of a school bus) away from a downed power line.
- If you are involved in an accident where poles or wires are involved, it is important to remain calm, stay in your vehicle, dial 9-1-1 and wait until FortisBC can turn off and isolate the power.
- To report an outage, downed wires or poles, call 1-866-436-7847.
