Hydro One Service in Coastal Georgian Bay

 

After several prolonged Hydro One service outages last summer, one of our member associations asked the GBA to speak with Hydro One to review the service that they provide to customers in our part of the Province. Here is a summary of what we learned from our conversation with a Hydro One Operations Manager from their Parry Sound office.

 

Transmission Line Configuration

 

The east coast of Georgian Bay is serviced by a series of single-phase dead end lines. This design, as opposed to loop feeding, was chosen as the later was deemed to be too expensive to justify in this relatively remote part of the Province.

 

There are limitations as to the distance that power can be transmitted in a dead end line configuration hence the need for many of these configurations up and down the eastern side of the Bay. 

 

One restriction of this transmission layout is that there is no ability to throw a switch to service customers at the end of one line with power from an abutting transmission line. So if you happen to be toward the end of one of the dead end lines, you will likely suffer more outages than cottagers who are “upstream” on your transmission line.

 

Equipment

 

About 20 years ago Hydro One decided to replace a lot of their aerial transmission lines with underwater cables. A number of cable designs and cable capacities (15 kv and 28kv) were used. Time has shown that some cable designs hold up better than others in the harsh Georgian Bay environment (coastal and inland lakes), where ice and fluctuating water levels put stress on these cables. The anticipated life expectancy of the underwater cables is shortened by the environmental conditions along the coast and inland lakes and by the ever increasing load demand. This has resulted in intermittent failures of these cables.

 

The Parry Sound area of Hydro One has an ongoing replacement program that results in 5000 metres of cable being replaced each year. When replacing cable Hydro One is now using a more robust 28kv cable. 5000 meters is a small percentage of the total cable that is in place in the Parry Sound Hydro One service area. We understand that similar maintenance programs are being undertaken by Hydro One offices that service other parts of the Georgian Bay region.

 

When there is a cable failure Hydro One usually tries to make a splice repair (rather than full replacement) as new cable costs approximately $25 - $30 per metre plus the labour and equipment (barges, boats, helicopters, etc) needed to install a replacement cable. There is no set policy on when to repair versus when to replace damaged cables, as this decision needs to be made on a case by case basis with hands on input from the crew in the field.

 

In addition to cable replacement, Hydro One has a regular pole replacement program in the Georgian Bay area.

 

Outages

 

Outages will continue to be a challenge in the Georgian Bay area. The natural elements that conspire against the state of the transmission hardware also challenge the crews that are called on to make repairs. Hydro One continues to ask for customer patience during outages. They dispatch their crews as quickly as is possible and safe.  At one time Hydro One provided compensation to customers who lost produce during prolonged outages. This is no longer the case. The Hydro One spokesperson’s recommendation is for customers who are concerned about outages to have power back up systems for refrigerators, freezers, etc. These could include gas generators or solar powered batteries. A qualified electrician should be consulted before purchasing or installing such equipment.

 

 

Customer Feedback

 

Our Hydro One contact suggested that individuals who are concerned about the condition of transmission cables or poles in and around their cottage could send Hydro One an electronic picture of the specific item of concern. Trees overhanging power lines and submarine cables being rubbed raw at the shore line are two examples of situations that might warrant a picture being sent to Hydro One. Their staff could then determine whether a proactive service call is in order. Customers should call Hydro One during business hours at 1-888-664-9376 to determine the appropriate email address to send pictures of potential problems to for your specific area.

 

Submitted by Claudette Chabot