Progress on gas outage
Photo: FortisBC
Fortis BC trucks can be seen around Lake Country right now as technicians deal with a significant gas outage.
UPDATE 3:45 p.m.
FortisBC says it has now restored natural gas service to about 1,000 properties in Lake Country and north Kelowna.
A total of 6,200 properties were impacted by the outage.
“We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate our customers’ patience as this work continues,” the company said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
FortisBC says they now have 60 staff on the ground helping with the restoration process. Technicians must visit every property twice and are now working their way through those second visits.
“All gas meter shut offs in the affected area are now complete. FortisBC technicians are now returning to homes and businesses to turn gas back on at the meter and relight appliances,” said FortisBC.
“When a technician arrives, if you are home, they will turn your gas back on at the meter and relight your appliances for you. If you are not home, a door tag will be left with instructions on how to request a return visit.”
For safety reasons, customers should not turn on their gas meter or relight appliances.
“Relights will continue today and throughout the weekend. The exact timing for each property will depend on how quickly technicians can visit each location,” said FortisBC.
UPDATE 12:30 p.m.
As the gas begins to flow and pilot lights are sparked again, FortisBC’s effort to return natural gas service to 6,200 homes in the Lake Country and North Kelowna areas is being monitored.
“We understand the disruption to FortisBC gas customers in the Lake Country area is concerning for everyone who has been impacted,” British Columbia Utilities Commission representative said Friday morning.
“It is the BCUC’s role to ensure a public utility fulfills its duty to deliver safe and reliable energy service to its customers, and we take this responsibility seriously.”
The BCUC was made aware of the gas service disruption in the Lake Country area by FortisBC on Wednesday. Since, they’ve closely monitored the situation and received updates from the utility as they prioritize their efforts to restore service to customers in the affected area.
As service returns to the region, the BCUC representative said they will get more information “on the cause and nature of the incident from FortisBC and will determine if any further actions are required. “
FortisBC has so far refused to reveal the cause of the outage.
ORIGINAL 10:41 a.m.
Natural gas service continues to be restored in Lake Country and North Kelowna homes, with technicians now going door-to-door to relight appliances for affected customers, Fortis BC said in a Friday morning update.
The utility said in a statement that the relights are now underway across the outage area and will continue through the weekend.
“The exact timing for each property will depend on how quickly technicians can visit each location,” a FortisBC representative said.
If someone is home when technicians arrive, FortisBC said staff will relight appliances during the visit.
If no one is home, crews will still restore gas service at the meter and leave a door tag with instructions on how to schedule a return visit to relight appliances.
The outage started Wednesday afternoon and by Thursday FortisBC said crews were brought in from across B.C. to help. There were at one point, 60 staff members in the field.
The utility has been vague about what caused the outage, only saying that “early information indicates [it] originated within [their] system.”
