FortisBC plans $21.3M in Christina Lake, Grand Forks substation upgrades
The Christina Lake project targets added capacity, while the Grand Forks work focuses on aging equipment and reliability.
GRAND FORKS — FortisBC plans $21.3 million in substation work at Christina Lake and Grand Forks through the end of 2027, with one project intended to increase capacity for growing electricity demand and the other focused on replacing aging equipment and improving reliability.
The utility’s current capital-project list assigns an $8.2-million investment to a new, higher-capacity Christina Lake substation and $13.1 million to transformer and circuit-breaker upgrades at Grand Forks Terminal Station. Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2027 and are part of $133 million FortisBC says it is investing in electricity infrastructure across the Southern Interior.
At Christina Lake, FortisBC says it is building the replacement substation on the existing site. Regulatory filings identify the work as a Growth capital project intended to accommodate forecast load growth while addressing aging infrastructure and equipment-condition concerns. FortisBC’s earlier capital planning documents said the existing Christina Lake transformer was forecast to experience summer peak loads above its five-megavolt-ampere nameplate rating during the 2025-to-2027 rate-setting period. The transformer was manufactured in 1975, and the utility also identified aging insulation, a cooling issue and condition concerns involving voltage regulators and a capacitor-bank switch.
The regulatory filing had contemplated the possibility that more land or a different location could be required. FortisBC’s Sept. 15 project update now says the higher-capacity substation will be built on the existing site.
The Grand Forks project has a different purpose. FortisBC classifies it as Station Sustainment work and says replacing the existing transformer and circuit breakers will increase reliability. The T1 transformer at Grand Forks Terminal Station was manufactured in 1965, and FortisBC says a third-party condition assessment recommended its replacement. The utility also plans to replace obsolete high-voltage and remaining low-voltage minimum-oil circuit breakers and associated isolation switches.
The project includes changes to the station’s 63-kilovolt breaker arrangement as well as other equipment, protection and maintenance upgrades. FortisBC has said the work is intended to address aging infrastructure and equipment condition while improving reliability and reducing environmental and safety risks.
The $8.2-million and $13.1-million figures are the investments FortisBC currently lists for the two projects, with spending spread across several years. Earlier regulatory schedules allocated expenditures across the 2025-to-2027 period, with some project costs beginning before 2025. FortisBC’s 2024 filing estimated the Grand Forks project at $13.3 million, compared with the $13.1-million investment listed in the utility’s September 2026 update.
The B.C. Utilities Commission approved FortisBC’s 2025-to-2027 Rate Setting Framework in March 2025, including forecasts for regular Growth, Sustainment and other capital spending. Christina Lake falls within Growth capital and the Grand Forks work within Sustainment capital. Capital additions can enter FortisBC’s rate base and affect costs such as depreciation and financing, while electricity rates are established through separate BCUC proceedings. FortisBC’s 2027 rates remain under review.
FortisBC’s September update says it is building the new Christina Lake substation but does not identify a more specific stage such as site preparation or equipment installation. Publicly available material reviewed by the Sentinel does not identify the current construction phase at Grand Forks. No project-specific customer outage schedule or access restriction for either site was identified in FortisBC’s current public information.
The current Grand Forks work is separate from an earlier Grand Forks Terminal Station Reliability Project approved by the BCUC in 2019. That project involved installing a second transformer and changes to portions of two transmission lines. The present project concerns replacement of the aging T1 transformer and other existing station equipment. FortisBC says both current Boundary projects are scheduled to be finished by the end of 2027.
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