Westbank Substation Upgrade Project

The Westbank Substation Upgrade Project will:

• Allow us to increase the substation's capacity,
• Replace end-of-life equipment, and
• Ensure we can connect a new transmission line planned as part of the West Kelowna Transmission Project.

To accommodate the project, we'll have to expand the substation to the west by acquiring Crown land adjacent to the substation.

We're upgrading the substation to enable us to continue meeting the peak electricity demand, which is expected to grow in the coming years.

Westbank Substation is an existing substation on Shannon Lake Road near Kinsmen Athletic Park in West Kelowna.

The substation has been in service since the early 1970s, reliably serving more than 25,500 customers in Westbank First Nation, West Kelowna, Peachland and parts of Summerland. A 138-kilovolt transmission line from Nicola Substation, located east of Merritt, supplies electricity to the substation.

The project will ensure we continue to provide clean, reliable energy to Westbank First Nation, West Kelowna, Peachland and parts of Summerland.

As part of project planning, we've worked in collaboration with the sylix Okanagan Nation to complete environmental and socio-economic studies to investigate items including archaeological potential, wildlife and wildlife habitat, vegetation, soil characteristics, traffic, and noise. Additional studies are expected as the project advances.

We're in the early planning stages of the project and expect to start construction in 2026. The current in-service date for the project is expected in 2028.

We're committed to mutually agreeable consultation with First Nations that have interests in project area, and/or whose rights, including title, may be affected by the project.

Through a new relationship model based on mutual respect and collaboration called the Enduring Relationship, BC Hydro is committed to working with the syilx Okanagan Nation on projects within Okanagan territory and to ensuring that impacts to aboriginal rights and/or title are identified and addressed. Specifically, BC Hydro is working with a Project Review Committee comprised of Okanagan communities and led by Westbank First Nation, to better understand and address the environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic impacts of the Westbank Substation Upgrade Project and to make shared decisions to reduce the impacts of the Project.

We've initiated stakeholder engagement and will continue to engage through project development.

Please sign up at the link below if you'd like to receive project updates and information on consultation activities via email.