Could it be that Hydro cutbacks in the last few years would have anything to do with the long power outages. Do they still have as many employees checking poles and replacing rotten ones? Do they still have as many people clearing dangerous trees from powerline right of ways? How many powerline crews do they have on permanent staff today as opposed to 10 years ago? Who's responsable for the spoiled food and frozen water pipes? Just curious.

You probably don't even know it but the majority of times you see BCHydro pick up truck ( not the big line trucks ) it is a contractor by the name of Accenture and not an actual BCHydro employee. Same when you call in to report problems and bill issues. BCHydro is so not what it used to be. It is now a majority contractor based organization owned outside of BC.

BC Hydro is currently hiring 30 new positions for the lineman trade. Apparently the biggest need is in the North, because the Vancouver hires will not move north, but they can't get any applicants from the North?

That is true. They also offer a $25,000 over 5 year non-repayable loan that if you work in say Hudson's Hope you get $25,000 upon moving there and then over 5 years it will not be repayable. If you leave before then you have to repay that portion. That is how bad it is to find journeyman !

Lunar I disagree. I think it is because the buyout program in the 80's and then the hiring freeze in the 90's. It is only now that their past policies are catching up with them.

Training is the key to having journeyman.

BCH has skeleton crews, most work is contacted out to the private sector. And don't forget BCTC which used to BC Hydro as well are off on their own directing BCH in almost everything they do. So much for a province owned utility. It is slowly being sold off by the Campbell government just like BCR.

Chadermando has it right. The buy outs and downsizing are the problem. BC Hydro decreased staff all over the Province and when they had a problem in one area they would send in people from other parts of the Province to help out. These guys could be from Kamloops, Kelowna, who knows. After the problem was fixed they would return to their home base.

The problem is that they never planned for the pine beetle coming along and killing off all the trees close to their lines, nor were they able to remove all these trees as they would have done in the old days because they do not have the personel to do it. They continue to take in the huge revenues from the sale of electricity and they pay out a lot less because of the buyouts and lay offs.

So in essence the fat cats at Hydro continue to enjoy their huge salaries and expenses, the Government of the day continues to roll in the dough from the sale of electricity, and the taxpayers who are paying for all of this, are sitting in the dark, waiting, because these losers are irresponsible.

If it can be determined that a number of these outages are a result of beetle killed trees not being removed, even though they have been dead for 4/5 years, then someone (perhaps a lot) of people at Hydro should be fired.

You can see a similiar problem with the trees at the Pr George Golf Course. Just driving by the other day I counted 14 trees that had blown down, however I understand that a lot more than that actually blew over. I noticed one along Westwood that came very near to falling over the Hydro Lines which would have caused further outages. The Golf Course has known for a number of years that these trees have to come down, and in fact they have taken out some, but there are still a lot left that could cause problems.

The chickens are coming home to roost. The same thing applies to Employers who when there was a surplus of people looking for work would use phrases on their employees like.

*If you dont like it hear you can pack you bags*
*There are people waiting to take your job, so if your not happy leave* Etc; Etc;

Now that there are more jobs than there are people looking for work the **Worm has turned**

People now get raises without asking for them
They are treated with respect, and actually complimented on their work. Some are given bonus's and of course for some new employees their are great signing bonus's.

My My how things have changed.

Well, I for one would like to thank BC Hydro for the quick response tonight in such horrible weather! Our power went off at 3pm and is now back on at 8:30pm (we are out in a rural community) When you have it you don't give it much thought, but when you don't ....well..everything comes to a halt. Thank heavens we are prepared with a wood stove for heat! THANK YOU TO THE GUYS AT BC HYDRO THAT WERE RESPOSIBLE FOR GETTING THE POWER BACK ON!!!!! WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!!!!!!!

I agree, IMO its one of the most dangerous jobs out there and yes they do deserve a pat on the back for every time they go out in the rain and snow to get the job done so we can have the power on.

The people who actually work for BCH are top notch, no doubt about that. I do agree that past policies and combined with the general shortage of Journeyman have caused a severe crunch with the organization. So if you know someone who is a millright, electrician, mechanic or into the line trades and wants to live in the North of the province ( sorry PG isn't north ) they can make a very good wage and huge benefits on top of that, then have them contact BCH.

There were no buyouts in the early 80's it was mass layoffs and shutting down the apprentice program with some apprentices with over 2 years into the trades. They were layed off and expected to go elsewhere to continue.

That was the Social Credit Government, when they were bootet out, there was only one Socred left, Gordon Campbell who changed the name to Liberal.

No one disputes that the present Employees of Hydro do an excellent job. However with proper planning and manning they could do a much better job. The problem lies with Management, not with employees. Whats new????