Over the past year, North Bay Hydro has undertaken several key projects to modernize the electricity distribution grid and enhance infrastructure resiliency. More are planned. These initiatives are essential for ensuring reliable and efficient power delivery to the community.
These projects are pivotal in replacing outdated assets, reducing outage risks, and accommodating future technological advancements. By upgrading both overhead and underground lines, North Bay Hydro is ensuring a more resilient and modern electricity distribution grid, capable of meeting the growing demands of the community.
Improvements like these increase the grid’s capacity to support new developments and the integration of renewable energy sources, which are essential for a sustainable future.
Upcoming projects include:
- Accelerated High-Speed Internet Program: Ongoing make-ready pole replacements to support high-speed internet access, crucial for modern communication needs.
- Highway 11N Sunshine to Berkley Rebuild: A 24-pole line rebuild to enhance the reliability of power distribution along a major route.
- O’Brien – McKeown to Airport Overhead Line Rebuild: Scheduled for Spring 2024, this project involves installing 13 composite and wood poles for a 44kV sub-transmission line.
- Blair Street and Labreche Drive Underground Reconstruction: Set for Spring/Summer 2024, this project will replace directly buried underground cables with new, safer infrastructure.
North Bay Hydro’s projects are strategic investments aimed at future-proofing the electricity distribution grid and enhancing service reliability for customers.
Rebuilding overhead lines and replacing old poles with new composite and wood poles, as seen in the Highway 11N Sunshine to Berkley projects, ensures that the grid can handle current and future electricity demands more efficiently. This is a crucial infrastructure upgrade.
Underground cabling projects like the upcoming Blair Street and Labreche Drive Underground Reconstruction reduce the risk of outages caused by weather-related incidents, such as storms and heavy snowfall, which are common in the region.
By rebuilding critical lines, such as the recent Trout Lake Transformer Station to Tower Drive line project, North Bay Hydro is ensuring that power can be rerouted quickly in case of an outage, minimizing downtime for customers. This is very important for enhancing reliability and resiliency of the local grid.
By investing in these projects, North Bay Hydro is not only addressing current infrastructure needs but also laying the groundwork for a more resilient, efficient, and reliable electricity distribution system. This proactive approach ensures that customers will benefit from fewer outages, better service quality, and the ability to meet future energy demands.