How do I get power to my property in BC?

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The utility that serves the area designs and builds the line to the lot, and you pay the part of its cost above the utility's set contribution, plus the wiring on your side. Close to an existing line that can be a standard connection charge; a long run of new poles to a rural lot can cost far more than the lot. A report gives the distance to the nearest mapped transmission line, which isn't the line a house connects to. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Who serves the lot: BC Hydro serves most of BC. FortisBC serves much of the southern interior (Kelowna, the South Okanagan, Trail, Castlegar, Rossland, Creston and the country around them), and Nelson, Penticton, Summerland and Grand Forks run their own town utilities. No open map of these service areas exists, so a report doesn't name the utility: ask the town, or call BC Hydro or FortisBC with the address. How BC Hydro connects a new home: Where low-voltage service is already at hand, a new home pays BC Hydro's standard charge for the meter and the wire to it. Where poles, a transformer or cable must be added, the customer pays an extension fee: the cost of building it, less BC Hydro's contribution of up to $2,798 per single-family home (April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, raised each year with the general rate increase). The contribution can now also go toward the service connection. Design starts on a non-refundable deposit, $2,000 for an extension, waived for a simple service up to 200 A, and the fee is paid before construction. Sharing the cost later: Under the policy in force since July 5, 2025, an extension fee of $25,000 or more is reviewed after the line is energized, at 5 years (and at 10 and 15 years for the largest), and the first customer can get part of it back when others connect to the same line; under $25,000 there is no refund. Ask for the terms in writing before you pay. FortisBC: FortisBC sets its own extension rules in its electric tariff: it pays a contribution per customer toward an extension, the customer pays the rest and the design, and customers who connect to the line within five years share its cost. Ask FortisBC for the current figures and a design estimate. On your side of the meter: The line across private land to reach the lot, and often the lot itself, needs a right of way for the utility, registered on title, and room cleared for the poles and wires: a neighbour's land in between means asking that neighbour. The owner's own wiring needs an electrical permit and inspection, from Technical Safety BC or, in a few larger cities, the city: a licensed electrical contractor takes the permit, or a homeowner permit lets the registered owner wire the detached house they live in, within its limits. What the report shows: The distance to the nearest high-voltage line on the Province's map and OpenStreetMap. The distribution lines along roads, the ones a house connects to, aren't on either map for most of BC (OpenStreetMap draws them in a few towns only), so a lot can be far from a mapped line and still have a pole at the road, or near one and still need a long extension. A transmission line nearby doesn't mean a connection is cheap: houses don't connect to it. Off the grid: Where an extension costs too much, solar panels, a battery bank and a generator are the usual answer; insurers, lenders and the building permit each have their own questions. See living off the grid and solar panels.

How do I get power to my property in BC?

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