One week after the devastating storm in southern Ontario and Quebec, communities in the affected regions are still being damaged, with some residents spending eight days without electricity.
Hydro One, which serves rural Ontario and is the largest utility company in the province, says 1,900 poles were damaged during the storm. Hydro Quebec officials have said 500 sticks need to be replaced in the province. And in the country’s capital, the storm damaged 300 sticks, according to Hydro Ottawa.
Replacement poles will have to be obtained from somewhere, and utility companies often rely on two different types of poles that support overhead power lines that provide electricity to our communities.
WOOD VS. COMPOUND POWDER
Utility agencies typically have a mix of wooden hydraulic poles and composite material poles. Hydro One says it gets its wooden sticks from Stella Jones, a supplier based in Ontario, while Hydro Ottawa gets the vast majority of its cedar and pine sticks grown in western Canada.
“These sticks are appreciated throughout North America for their balanced features in durability, longevity and profitability,” Josée Larocque, Hydro Ottawa’s media and public affairs manager, told CTVNews.ca in an email Friday.
Utility companies have relied on wooden sticks for nearly two centuries, as it is a low-conductivity material with little tendency to expand due to heat. Wooden sticks are also a green option as they can be easily recycled.
But in ditches, rough terrain and wetlands and swamps that pose a structural challenge to wooden poles, utility companies opt for composite poles, made of fiberglass and coated with resin and UV protection. Hydro Ottawa says its composite poles are made in Ontario and can last up to 80 years, twice as long as wooden poles.
“They also have a high strength / weight ratio, which means they can be used in areas that may not be able to withstand a wooden stick … and are resistant to both rot and woodpecker damage,” Larocque said.
Hydro One says it typically maintains a supply of sticks and other infrastructure items to prepare for adverse weather events, but the severity of last weekend’s storm meant the agency had to get additional supplies quickly. .
“We work with many excellent partners who have come forward to provide us with the products we need to recover customers in the affected areas. Our suppliers played an important role in our ability to restore energy to the great most customers so quickly and we want to thank them for everything they have done and continue to do, “Hydro One spokesman Richard Francella said in an email to CTVNews.ca on Friday.
THE NEED FOR RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE
With scientists warning that storms like the one we saw last weekend will only get stronger, longer and more frequent thanks to the effects of climate change, questions have been raised about whether existing power grid infrastructure is ready. .
“The network we designed today has used data from the last 100 years,” electrical infrastructure expert Andrew Phillips told CTVNews.ca in a video interview on Thursday. “Unfortunately, due to climate change, the past is not a good predictor of the future.”
But there are alternatives to wood sticks and compounds currently in use that could be more resistant to storms. Phillips, who is vice president of transmission and distribution infrastructure for the Electricity Research Institute (EPRI) in Charlotte, North Carolina, notes that in Florida, which sees tropical storms or hurricanes annually, utility poles. of concrete or steel.
These poles can withstand significantly higher wind speeds compared to wooden poles, but Phillips says they are much heavier, more expensive, and more difficult to install and repair.
Utility companies in many European and Asian countries have opted to bury their power lines underground, but this option also has cost and repair issues.
“It’s expensive to do, but of course … it also has the downside that if a failure occurs, it can take a very, very long time to recover,” Phillips said.
But Phillips says we shouldn’t completely erase wood sticks, as wood is a renewable resource with a much smaller carbon footprint compared to concrete, steel, or composite options.
“Concrete poles, steel poles and even composite poles have a carbon footprint … while wooden poles are a bit carbon neutral, because they grew on the ground like trees. “There ‘s a bit of a push in Europe to get back to wood dust because of carbon neutrality,” he said.
Phillips says design changes can extend the longevity of wooden sticks. EPRI researchers, for example, have developed a type of wooden hydraulic pole that could better withstand extreme weather events. In the event of a storm, only the transverse arm would break, or the cables would escape, instead of breaking the pole itself.
“When a wooden stick breaks, it will take 36 hours (repair it). But if you find a broken arm on top, or a conductor just slipping on your foot, it can take three to four hours. And so this can really speed up the recovery, “Phillips said.
Phillips says policymakers need to start thinking now about how to build a weather-resistant power grid, either by designing a stronger infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events or to create infrastructure that can be repaired more quickly.
“We really have to think about what the future will be like. Obviously no one has a crystal ball, but climate models are getting better and better,” he said. “We shouldn’t wait until then to design an infrastructure that can withstand these events. We should be thinking now.”