Power restored to downtown Vancouver

by julianw | July 17, 2008 at 10:48 am | 139 views | 3 comments

Electrical Fire Knocks Out Part of Vancouver's Power

Downtown Vancouver has full power again for the first time since Monday morning, when an electrical fire knocked out electricity, caused havoc for repair crews, and forced some hotels to have an awesome glowstick rave.

For the first time since Monday morning, full power has been restored to downtown Vancouver.

B.C. Hydro crews flipped the final switches early Thursday morning, ending a power outage that began shortly after 9 a.m. on Monday when a fire in an underground electrical vault melted 14 major circuits.

Roughly 2,200 customers, ranging from single homes to entire hotels or skyscrapers, were blacked out and the final 100 users were reconnected overnight.

Although some downtown businesses lost tens of thousands of dollars during the two-and-a-half-day blackout, B.C. Hydro says no one will be compensated.

Vancouver businesses that lost customers and working hours due to a two-day blackout can forget about compensation.

B.C. Hydro president Bob Elton said Wednesday the corporation's liability is limited when it comes to outages and the company won't be paying business for any losses.

Elton said he understands people are frustrated and he commended the patience of those who have been in the dark for two days.

"If you look at the last several years, the Lower Mainland and the downtown core have had better reliability than anyone else in the province," Elton pointed out in a conference call with media.

"If you go back to California, Ontario, other examples of much more significant outages, indeed, again, no real precedent in terms of compensation."

In the case of Elton's California comparison, it helps that B.C. doesn't have to deal with any crazy, blackout-sponsoring corporations. But that's another story, for another day, for another channel.