Photo: CTV

A new report points to harsher more severe weather incidents happening in our province.

The report commissioned by BC Hydro entitled “Storm warning: The impact B.C.’s wild weather is having on British Columbians and their power” found storm and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe as a result of climate change, leading to more damage to BC Hydro’s electrical system and outages for customers.

The report indicates the number of customer outages during major storm events has increased by about 265 per cent from 323,000 customers in 2013 to 1.18 million in 2017."

The survey says more than 75 per cent of British Columbians agree that storms in the province are getting worse and 20 per cent indicate they have experienced more outages in their neighbourhood in recent years.
 
In B.C., falling trees and branches are the primary cause of power outages. B.C. has three times more trees per kilometre of line than anywhere else in North America. The combination of trees and adverse weather account for nearly 60 per cent of all outages.
 
“Despite the challenges faced by crews during these severe weather events, our customers aren’t waiting longer to have their power restored,” said Chris O’Riley, BC Hydro’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “In fact, about 95 per cent of customers’ power is restored within 24 hours following an extreme event.”