Power Surge Problems and Claims

Thursday, November 23, 2006 09:54 AM

With the power problems of the past few days, there have been some people in the Prince George region who say power surges have done serious damage to delicate electrical equipment. Whether BC Hydro will honor a claim for the recent power outages depends on the circumstances says David Conway, Manager for Community relations for BC hydro for this region.

Conway says if customers suffered damage as a result of the storm that hit the area last weekend which knocked down power lines, in all likelihood, theywould not be covered.

On the other hand, if a power surge took place when the power was turned back on in your home and it knocked out appliances and other electrical users in your home then it will be looked at on a claim by claim basis.

Conway says, "We want to warn people once again that even with a planned power outage we want the homeowners to turn the power off to stave of a power surge when electricity is returned to your residence."

Conway says claims that are not related to a power surge would not be entertained. "It has to be a failure on our part to trigger liability and a general storm knocking out power such as we had last weekend would not qualify. "

There have been a number of reports to Opinion250 from residents in the area that when power was returned to their homes following the outage, the power surge resulted in the failure of some appliances.

Conway says his department has not received any claims.

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Posted on Thursday, November 23, 2006 09:54 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Ben Meisner on November 22 2006 8:28 PM

If you have had a surge when the power came back on and it blew your fridge then you have a claim. Get service guy to give you a note saying it was burnt from the surge and then start a claim with BC Hydro.

Posted by: Palopu on November 22 2006 9:47 PM

If it could be determined that the power was knocked out by a dead tree that should have been removed by Hydro in the last year or so, would they then entertain a claim. I suggest that they may not be liable for live trees falling into Hydro Lines, but dead trees that everyone knows are a hazard would be a different situation.

Much like the dead trees at the Golf Courses. I understand that WCB has told the Golf Courses that these trees must be removed as they are a danger to Employees and Customers. If they are not removed and someone is injured, I suspect that the Golf Courses will have a suit on their hands.
It was just a few years ago that a dead tree at the Riverside Golf Course in Kamloops blew over and killed a women. These things can and do happen.

Posted by: anniemartin on November 23 2006 7:45 AM

Noticed the power surging on Sunday and ran around turning off the tv, computer and video game machine. I did not think to turn off my fridge - thanks for the info - next time I unplug the fridge too!