What caused the outage and how many customers were affected?

BC Hydro reported a substation fault that cut electricity to thousands in Prince George during extreme cold. Reports indicate up to 11,000 customers were affected at peak, with more than 8,000 off early on and about 9,000 later restored. Crews isolated equipment, rerouted load, and continued checks before full restoration.

How could this event influence utility capital plans?

Outage patterns often push utilities to prioritize protection relays, breakers, transformers, and remote switching for faster isolation. Winterization, spare transformers, and digital fault location tools also move up the list. Expect planning that balances reliability targets, rate impacts, and supply-chain timelines, with most projects spanning 6 to 18 months from design to commissioning.

What can small businesses do to limit losses during outages?

Audit critical loads and confirm transfer switches, generator capacity, and fuel. Add temperature sensors, UPS units for POS and routers, and written shutdown and restart steps. Keep vendor contacts for generator rentals and dry ice. Practice a 10-minute checklist that secures inventory, protects data, and communicates with staff and customers.

What should investors watch after winter outages?

Watch reliability metrics like SAIDI and SAIFI, spare inventory levels, and capex pacing for substations and feeders. Listen for updates on protection upgrades, switching automation, and crew readiness. Also track customer minutes lost, industrial load impacts, and any rate filing signals tied to outage-related spending or resiliency programs.

Global Market Insights

BC Hydro Outage Tests Grid Resilience in Prince George — December 28

ByHuzaifa Zahoor December 28, 2025December 28, 2025

Power outage prince george has put grid resilience in focus after a substation fault cut electricity to more than 8,000 BC Hydro customers during extreme cold on December 28. Local reports indicate up to 11,000 were affected at the peak, with about 9,000 restored later as crews isolated the issue. For investors, winter reliability risks drive near-term operating costs and shape capital plans for substations, feeders, and backup systems across Canada. We outline what happened and the financial signals to watch.