By Trevor Greenway
If you spot a helicopter flying over the Hills in Low, Chelsea or La Pêche this week, don’t worry, it’s not a mining company looking for minerals on your land.
Hydro-Québec has been conducting thermography inspections on some of its electricity transmission lines throughout the Outaouais, which began Feb. 19 in Denholm, Low, Chelsea and La Pêche, as well as other municipalities throughout the region.
The work aims to identify and replace components that, “over time, are more likely to cause service interruptions due to failure. The helicopter that will crisscross the sky could therefore focus on certain components of the transmission lines, which could seem curious to observers who are not familiar with the operation,” according to Hydro-Québec spokesperson Marie-Lou St-Onge.
“The helicopter inspection could take place over two or three days, depending on weather conditions.”
The work is part of a larger $9.5 million project over the next two years that will see the power company replace 100 wooden posts, install conductor protectors on approximately 20 kilometres of line, bury a portion of the power lines of the network and deforest certain areas that interfere with power lines. Hydro-Québec nor the municipality have said where the work on burying power lines will take place yet.
The power company said it hopes to cut service interruptions by 35 per cent across the province with this work.
Hydro-Québec said close to 2,000 homeowners will be affected by service interruptions but those residents would be notified via voicemail.