The operations of three local hydro-electric facilities will change hands in 18 months.
The Columbia Basin Trust and Columbia Power Corporation will move to in-house management of the Arrow Lakes, Brilliant Expansion, and Waneta Expansion facilities as of March 2027. Until now, FortisBC has looked after them on contract.
“FortisBC has provided operations and maintenance services to the Trust and Columbia Power for more than two decades, and we value the professionalism and collaboration of their trades and technicians that have characterized this long-standing relationship,” Trust president and CEO Johnny Strilaeff said in a prepared statement.
“As we have grown, we’ve developed the internal capacity to manage these responsibilities directly, in a way that delivers the greatest long-term value for the region.”
The Trust declined an interview request and declined to reveal any financial details, but said the current contract required an 18-month termination notice.
Strilaeff said in the statement they’re working with FortisBC on a “planned and orderly transition” and added there will be no disruption to operations.
The Trust has issued help-wanted ads for three full-time plant supervisors, three electrical crew leads, three mechanical crew leads, and a power generation work planner. The postings close Nov. 5 and 12.
FortisBC said the change won’t affect any of the services it offers to its power customers, nor any of the other hydroelectric generating facilities it owns and operates on the Kootenay River.
Dam operations on local rivers involve several different players that have changed over time.
The Arrow Lakes generating station was completed in 2002 below BC Hydro’s Hugh Keenleyside Dam on the Columbia River.
Brilliant Expansion was completed in 2007 below the Brilliant Dam on the Kootenay River. Columbia Power bought the dam from Cominco in 1996.
Waneta Expansion was completed in 2015 downstream of the Waneta dam on the Pend d’Oreille River. BC Hydro bought the dam from Teck in 2018. Columbia Power and Columbia Basin Trust bought out Fortis’s half-interest in the expansion in 2019.
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