As noted in previous newsletters, BC Hydro has been announcing billions of dollars in distribution infrastructure upgrades across the Province to service new housing, commercial and industrial projects as well as to accommodate increased building electrification and electric vehicle charging. On September 18th, they announced $2 billion in capital projects in the City of Vancouver over the next decade.  

These investments include: 

• “approximately $1.4 billion to construct three new substations, which will be in service by the early 2030s: 
• West End substation to replace the Dal Grauer substation will power as many as 70,000 new homes; 
• East Vancouver substation to replace the Murrin substation will power as many as 70,000 new homes; and 
• Boundary substation to provide capacity in the fast-growing south Vancouver and south Burnaby areas will power as many as 70,000 new homes. 
• approximately $200 million to expand capacity at Mount Pleasant and Kidd 1 substations, and to replace aging equipment at Cathedral Square and Sperling substations; 
• approximately $300 million in investments in distribution capacity to: 
• convert underground systems in downtown Vancouver to higher voltages to provide additional capacity; 
• connect new residential developments in Oakridge, West Broadway, Yaletown and west side of Vancouver; and 
• provide new feeder capacity in the West End, West Side and south Vancouver. 
• approximately $120 million to replace an aging 230 kilovolt cable approaching end-of-life to maintain reliable supply of power to the Cathedral Square substation in downtown from Burnaby; and 
• as part of the Metro South Project, $500 million will be invested to expand the transmission network to support the projected load growth and increase capacity feeding the Camosun and Mainwaring substations in Vancouver.” 

Anne McMullin, UDI’s President/CEO, stated in the news release that “UDI is very pleased that BC Hydro is investing $2 billion in much-needed electrical infrastructure in Vancouver. These upgrades to the distribution system are essential for the city and our members to deliver the job spaces and 10s of thousands of new homes Vancouver needs in the coming decades, while ensuring governments can still achieve their climate goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” 

In the same news release, BC Hydro also provided an update on their call for new renewable power-generation projects that occurred in April. The utility received “… 21 proposals from independent power producers … representing more than 9,000 GWh/y, enough to power approximately 800,000 homes. Of the proposals received, approximately 70% are wind projects, 20% are solar and 10% include biomass and hydro.”