Natural gas in B.C. limited through the winter after pipeline blast: FortisBC
SURREY, B.C. — A British Columbia natural gas supplier is warning its one million customers to expect reduced supplies and “challenges in times of high demand” as winter looms.
FortisBC says in a statement that the Oct. 9 rupture and explosion of the Enbridge natural gas pipeline northeast of Prince George will mean a reduced supply for months.
Although Enbridge says it expects to have the ruptured pipeline in service by mid-November, it also advises that the pressure in that line, and in a smaller natural gas pipeline nearby, will remain below maximum levels until spring.
FortisBC says that means natural gas supplies provincewide will be limited to 50 to 80 per cent of normal levels during the coldest months of the year.