Busy beavers in PG area result in third most memorable outage of 2020: BC Hydro

Well, we’ve all heard the term “eager beaver”, but in this case, it led to a power outage in Prince George.

BC Hydro released its dubious list of the 10 most memorable power outages of 2020.

The crown corporation noted an October incident that left 365 local customers in the dark took third place.

Northern Spokesperson, Bob Gammer spoke with MyPGNow.com.

“Beavers in the Prince George area, a little bit closer to Isle Pierre actually, were chewing down trees then fell over and landed on our power lines causing an outage and this happened more than once.”

He added it’s one of those odd calls you do have to laugh about over time.

“You do have to have a chuckle because it is unusual and the beaver is just doing his or her job and that’s what they do and unfortunately, the tree fell the wrong way for our concern.”

Gammer mentioned the outage lasted over three hours and also impacted customers in Dawson Creek.

Here is the full list of outages:

• Un-bear-able weight: A hungry bear outside of Nakusp climbed a cherry tree in search of a snack. Unfortunately, the tree could not hold the weight of the bear and it resulted in branches falling on to electrical equipment causing a power outage.
• Grandma’s birthday surprise: A grandmother’s celebration in Vernon reached new heights when her helium balloons came loose and flew into overhead wires, causing an outage to 120 other homes, and ending the party.
• Dam trees: Busy beavers in Dawson Creek and Prince George caused over 700 customer outages when large branches from their dam construction fell into power lines.
• Birds of play: Ospreys in Vernon and Kelowna decided to dispose of their unneeded nest supplies by dropping sticks on BC Hydro power lines. Perhaps an attempted game of power line pick-up sticks?
• Insect eviction: Wasps took up residence in BC Hydro’s equipment in Surrey, North Vancouver and Chemainus, and even built a nest inside a streetlight in Windermere.
• Nuts about power: Fearless squirrels chewed through wires in Nanaimo and Langley causing outages for over 8,000 customers.
• Meter motive: In Chilliwack, crews responded to an outage call only to discover the electricity meter was missing. They later retrieved it from a burglar who was walking down the street, meter in hand.
• Let it go!: In both Hope and Vernon, a kite broke free from its owner’s grasp, causing outages to about 2,000 customers. Luckily, the kite owners just “let it go” before the kite came into contact with the live power line.
• Going green: East Vancouver residents may reconsider their composting habits after a plant someone tossed out their window hit electrical equipment and caused an outage to 69 people.
• Leaf it to the professionals: In Vernon, a homeowner was lucky to escape injury after contacting the power line while cleaning his gutters, causing a power outage.