The Summerland Electric Utility is pleased to report that as of Friday, September 4, nearly the entire community had power restored following the Bald Range Wildfire.

That milestone was reached just three days before the one-month anniversary of the wildfire.

A small number of properties remain without power, primarily in areas where long, difficult-to-access powerlines still need to be rebuilt. For residents at the end of Garnet Valley, where some of the most significant damage to Summerland's electrical system occurred, we know this has been a long wait. We sincerely appreciate your patience as our crews continue this challenging work.

An Unprecedented Rebuild for Summerland Electric Utility

The Bald Range Wildfire destroyed or damaged 165 power poles, approximately 5% of Summerland's electrical distribution system.

While crews were working to restore wildfire damage, they were also faced with several additional emergencies. A major windstorm destroyed two critical electrical structures and caused an outage affecting approximately 850 properties. Two separate motor vehicle accidents also required additional power pole replacements.

Through it all, our crews kept going.

Thank You to Our Summerland Electric Utility Crews

We want to recognize the incredible efforts of our Summerland Electric Utility Powerline Technicians.

This emergency tested their physical endurance and mental resilience. They worked day and night restoring power while their own families were evacuated. At the end of extremely long shifts, they returned to hotels, trailers and temporary accommodations to get whatever rest they could before doing it all again the next day.

Their work is not finished. Our crews continue to work every day rebuilding, repairing and salvaging damaged electrical infrastructure throughout the affected areas. Around 55 utility structures still require replacement. We are incredibly grateful for their dedication to this community.

Thank You to the Utilities That Answered the Call

Summerland maintains a close relationship with our sister electric utilities. Only 12 hours after the fire started, at 8:00 a.m. the following Saturday, Summerland sent this message to our electric utility partners. “Hey guys, over the last 12 hours we have had widespread structure losses in Summerland. Will likely request resources in the coming days.”. All of those partners responded immediately.

City of Penticton - Penticton Electric Utility provided any resources that were requested and helped cover night shifts, including removing downed powerlines while the wildfire was still actively burning power poles.

City of Nelson - Nelson Hydro sent an absolute dream team that replaced poles so quickly that, at times, we could barely deliver materials fast enough to keep up with them.

City of New Westminster – New West Electrical Utility committed significant resources to Summerland's recovery, leaving only one staff member behind at home while their crews supported our rebuild.

FortisBC - FortisBC provided much-needed power pole fire protection to help safeguard critical infrastructure.

BC Hydro - BC Hydro supported the restoration by supplying urgently needed materials, with some shipments arriving the very same day they were requested.

To every crew member, utility worker, planner, supplier and support person who contributed to this effort: thank you!

And if you meet someone from Penticton, Nelson or New Westminster, please thank them on Summerland's behalf. Their communities sent us some incredible people when we needed them most.

The Rebuild Continues

Restoring power is only one part of the recovery.

Summerland Electric Utility still has significant rebuilding ahead, particularly in the hardest-hit areas of Garnet Valley towards the reservoir and in some sections of the electrical distribution system in town. This work will continue through much of 2026 as damaged infrastructure is rebuilt and the system is restored for the long term.

Nearly one month after the Bald Range Wildfire, seeing the lights back on across almost all of Summerland represents an important milestone.

There is still work to do, but we have come a very long way.