SaskPower to inspect more than 100,000 wooden poles

After spring snowstorms damaged some of its infrastructure, SaskPower workers will be inspecting more than 101,000 wooden power poles around the province this year to help ensure the power grid stays reliable.

The inspection covers a large portion of the 1.2 million wooden poles carrying power around the province. Workers will be on the lookout for any signs of decay or damage, SaskPower said, as well as any infestations by carpenter ants.

If crews find any damage, they’ll repair or reinforce the poles if possible or replace them entirely. Part of this year’s work includes installing wildfire protection on power infrastructure.

The Crown corporation has set aside $6.6 million for testing and treatment of wooden power poles this year, and the work is scheduled to run until October in the areas around Buffalo Narrows, La Ronge, Rosetown, Rosthern, Saskatoon, Shellbrook, Spiritwood and Stoughton.

No outages are expected to occur during the inspection, and SaskPower advised landowners that workers may require access to poles on privately owned land in some cases.

An April snowstorm in southeastern Saskatchewan snapped hundreds of power poles and crossarms, leaving nearly 25,000 without power while the damage was repaired.

In the aftermath of the storm, SaskPower dispatched 600 new power poles, 3,100 crossarms, and 300 metres of power line to the area. A storm in the Maple Creek area earlier in April also caused significant damage to poles and other power infrastructure.