After backlash and concern from communities in the Southern Interior led to the temporary suspension of FortisBC's newest safety measures, the natural gas and electricity company is providing more insight into the policy in hopes of winning over the public.
On May 20, FortisBC submitted its Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) Policy to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC), as directed when the commission postponed the new measures earlier this month. The safety policy which would proactively shut off power in selected areas in advance of extreme weather was designed to protect communities and electricity systems against wildfires.
FortisBC stated that they are committed to listening and engaging in meaningful conversations while working together with communities to find the "best path forward" in implementing the PSPS policy, and added that the policy still remains an integral part of its approach to wildfire safety and was only supposed to be used sparingly.
"FortisBC鈥檚 goal is always to keep the power on and it anticipates the use of this policy to be rare," FortisBC stated. "The decision to implement a PSPS event will only be made based upon careful monitoring for extreme fire risk conditions including a Fire Weather Index of greater than 47 and sustained wind speeds forecast to be more than 75 kilometres per hour."
The policy would only be implemented during extremely hot and dry summer days, and when reviewing historical weather data in the areas at greatest risk of wildfire over a ten-year period, FortisBC found only one occurrence of conditions that would have met the criteria for a PSPS.
"Before initiating a PSPS event, FortisBC will also consider additional factors, such as alternative mitigation strategies and input received from public safety partners, local and provincial governments, Indigenous communities and critical infrastructure providers, where available," FortisBC added. "To help communities prepare for a PSPS event, FortisBC will work to provide as much advance notice as possible and will provide updates before and throughout the outage."
FortisBC postponed three open houses earlier this month due to the concerns surrounding the policy, but will be holding the information sessions next month to ensue that communities are well-informed about the PSPS and wildfire safety.
Currently, the policy remains suspended pending a BCUC review.
