BC Hydro is currently undertaking two projects in Merritt which will help improve the flow of electricity in the region.
“One of them is the ILM, which is the Interior Lower Mainland line,” said James Umpherson, economic development manager for the City of Merritt. “That’s a half a billion dollar project which is taking power from the Interior of B.C. to the Lower Mainland. The impact of the city is that there is an embarkation point in the city where they’re marshalling all the equipment and personnel for this leg of the project there’s some significant activity for construction workers in the City of Merritt as well as rental housing.”
Making an even bigger impact on Merritt will be the twinning of the current line into the city and into the transformer station.
“What that will do is provide a redundancy line into the city of Merritt so we won’t suffer brown-outs,” said Umpherson. “It’ll double the increased power that Merritt will have. So there will be no threat of over-consumption. In other words, we’ll be able to service any and all business needs through the City regardless of the size of the industrial project.”
Umpherson said the increased power will make it easier to attract businesses and expand the city base as needed.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “We’ve had companies interested and we’ve made sure they know this will be coming about. The line for the City of Merritt itself, the transformer itself, is due for completion by 2014.”
Also adding another element of power to the city is the Merritt Green Energy Project.
“Essentially our current load is 46 megawatts and it’s going to go well above 100 when all our power projects are completed,” said Umpherson. “It means that we’re not going to run out of electricity and we can continually expand without concern for, ‘Are we going to have to manage our power consumption?’ In addition, BC Hydro probably has their own particular plans and initiatives they’ll want to take from those projects. It’ll feed through their line system, however they manage that.”
Construction on the ILM began last March with the first trees being cut along the right-of-way near Merritt. The project is expected to be in service in early 2015.
BC Hydro’s Melissa Holland, project manager for the Interior to Lower Mainland Transmission Project, said the project is an important one, not only for Merritt but all of B.C.
“British Columbia is growing and so is our need for electricity,” said Holland. “Even with conservation, the demand for electricity in B.C. is expected to grow by about 20 to 40 per cent over the next 20 years – most of that in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. The Interior to Lower Mainland Transmission Project will help ensure that homes and businesses in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island continue to enjoy a reliable supply of clean energy.”
The ILM project has already brought several benefits to the region.
“The project is providing opportunities for local aboriginal and non-aboriginal vendors and suppliers of goods and services, such as right-of-way clearing, access road development, truck drivers and equipment operators, flag people, archaeology and heritage monitoring, environmental monitoring, right-of-way restoration, accommodation and meals,” said Holland.
