In a newly released report, power companies across the country warn that an impending wooden utility pole shortage threatens the reliability of Canada’s power grid.
The warning comes just as Ottawa is investing billions of dollars to expand transmission and production to meet the demands of a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
The issue stems from Health Canada’s decision to ban pentachlorophenol (PENTA), a chemical pesticide used to protect and preserve some utility poles, without approving alternative treatments to replace it. ing.
“Orderly phase-out [PENTA] It could have been planned in parallel with the expansion of alternatives,” says a new report from Electricity Canada, an industry group representing energy companies.
“That didn’t happen, and ultimately it will have a negative impact on Canadians who depend on the electricity flowing over the poles. Within two years, it will be banned.” [PENTA] This could put the reliability of the power grid at risk. ”
Last April, Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith sent a letter to then-federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos stating that while Ontario understood the logic behind the PENTA ban, the federal government He said he should have planned a plan.
“While some oil-based wood preservatives are available in other countries that can be used as an alternative to PENTA, they are either not approved by Health Canada or are not readily available in Canada.” Mr. Smith wrote.
The minister said several options, such as the organic compound dichlorooctylisothiazolinone (DOCIT), have been approved in the United States since 2018. Smith said another substitute, creosote, is in short supply due to the Ukraine war.
“Our province is threatened with a significant shortage of utility poles, which could put our power supply at risk and severely impact Ontarians,” Smith said in the letter.
Palmer Lockridge, Mr. Smith’s chief of staff, told CBC News in an email that the minister sent the letter nearly a year ago but has not yet received a response. CBC News has reached out to Health Minister Mark Holland’s office for clarification, but has not yet received a response.
threat of severe weather events
Canada’s wooden utility poles come from newly-grown forests, which take about 30 years to grow, said Mike Powell, Canadian Electricity Board’s vice-president of government relations.
Not all wood poles are treated with petroleum-based chemicals like PENTA. Some are coated with water-based treatments, but it really depends on the type of wood used.
Powell said Douglas fir poles, which are widely used in Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada, can only be treated with petroleum-based products.
Approximately half of all wooden utility poles in the United States are treated with PENTA. Powell said it’s unclear how many PENTA-treated utility poles there are in Canada, but the number is in the “tens of per cent” range.
Transmission companies are replacing up to 100,000 wooden utility poles a year across Canada, according to the Canadian Electricity Agency, and recent catastrophic climate change is increasing that number.
“Unfortunately, as a result of climate change, utility poles are being removed from service at a much faster rate than ever before,” the Canadian Electricity Agency report said.
A derecho (major thunderstorm) that hit the Quebec City-Windsor corridor in 2022 destroyed 3,000 wooden pillars, the report said. Last year, about 6,000 wooden utility poles were destroyed by wildfires across the country.
The last federal budget said that for Canada to reach its net-zero emissions target by 2050, Canada’s electricity demand would need to double and grid capacity would need to increase by up to 3.4 times.
“Simply put, Canada’s economic prosperity depends on significant investments today to build a sustainable, safe and affordable electricity grid,” the budget states.
“We will expand Canada’s power grid, connect it from coast to coast, and ensure Canadians and Canadian businesses have access to cleaner, cheaper energy for the next century.”
Promoting alternatives
In 2014, United Nations Committee of Experts It recommended that PENTA, which is also used to preserve railway sleepers, be phased out globally due to its “harmful effects”.
For the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ban announced in February 2022stated that because of the availability of substitutes, “the risks that pentachlorophenol poses to worker health outweigh the benefits of its use.”
Alternatives that the EPA has approved for use in the United States include DOCIT, copper naphthenate, arsenic chromide, and creosote. Even though these alternatives are already available, EPA has given industry his five-year phase-out period.
Health Canada Pest Management and Regulation Authority Ban announced in October 2022which initially only gave the industry a one-year phase-out period.
Canada Power worked with the government to extend that deadline until 2026, allowing utilities to tap into their stockpile of PENTA-treated utility poles. Those reserves are running low.
The Canadian Electricity Agency says there is only about 50,000 surplus PENTA-treated utility poles left and the only viable solution is to quickly approve new treatments.
“There are multiple alternatives approved in the U.S., and it seems like we need to make sure we provide the same kind of power to ensure we have the most reliable and safe power grid possible,” Powell said. .
CBC News has asked Health Canada for an update on the status of approval of alternative treatments, but has not yet received a response.
