May 20, 2016 – BC Hydro says it has completed a major $47 million expansion of the George Tripp substation to help meet the growing needs of the Greater Victoria area.

“The demand for electricity in Victoria will increase by about 2% per year over the next 10 years and this investment at George Tripp will help us meet that demand,” said Bill Bennett, minister of Energy and Mines. “We are making investments like this all over Vancouver Island. In fact, BC Hydro will spend about $2 billion over the next decade on the island to upgrade existing assets and build new infrastructure to support the growing population and economy. These capital projects will create 9300 person-years of employment.”

Construction on George Tripp—which was originally built in the 1950s and serves 26,000 customers—began in 2013. Project work involved adding a new step-up transformer and switchgear breaker equipment, and installing a new 230 kilovolt underground transmission cable that connects to nearby Horsey substation.

“Between the upgrades at George Tripp substation and the ones nearing completion at Horsey substation, this represents a $95 million investment to upgrade Victoria’s two major substations,” said Greg Reimer, executive vice-president of transmission, distribution & customer service with BC Hydro.

The utility says about 75 jobs were created over two and a half years of construction between the George Tripp and Horsey projects. Nanaimo-based F&M Installations provided cable installation for the new underground transmission cable.