Of the 2,000 meters SaskPower has inspected, 40% required repairs

SaskPower says of the 2,000 power meters it has inspected in Regina, nearly half haverequired repairs.

On Monday, a powermeter box caught fire in Regina'sWalsh Acres neighbourhood. It was the sixth box to spark in the city so far this summer.

Shifting ground is causing thedamage,SaskPower spokesperson JonathanTremblaysaid. Inspectors have seen a shift of up to eight inches in some areas.

SaskPoweris now conductinginspections inareas with soil similar to Regina's, like Moose Jaw, and there may be the possibility of work done inShaunavon and Kindersley as well.

Tremblay said that as of Tuesday morning,2,000 meters were inspected and about 800 required repair. Thousands more will need to be inspected.

Scorching weather and limited moisture have caused the ground to pullthewiring of meters down into the ground. Regina's clay soil has essentially been compacted,Tremblaysaid.

Because of the alarming frequency of the meter fires in Regina over the lasttwo weeks,SaskPowerhas been working daily to conduct inspections for thepast 10 days.

Rain may help here and there, but certainly the damage is done.- JonathanTremblay, SaskPower spokesperson

Tremblay said theproblem isn't going to go away.

"We are going to have to keep dealing with this. The damage is done in many cases. Those wires are being pulled. Those meter boxes are tilted, so we will have to keep going. Rain may help here and there, but certainly the damage is done."

Power meter catches fire in Regina

7 years ago

Duration 0:10

Power meter catches fire in Regina

It was the driest July for Reginain 130 years, but SaskPower didn't start inspecting the meters until the first meter fire of this summer happened.

Tremblay said this ground movement differs from what the Crown utility typically sees.

"It's usually not this bad and very rarely do we see something with a fire being caused," he said."That's a shifting that goes back and forth. This is a different type of shifting where the extreme dryness is compacting the earth. It is going down and away from the house."

Power meters serviced with copper wire have a higher risk of fire. The wire is exposed when the insulation is pulled out by the shifting ground.

Copper has a high melting point, so it keeps conducting power towardthe house even though it is exposed, Tremblay said.

Aluminum is now primarily used for wire servicing. It has a lower melting point, so it melts when the box tilts and the wire is exposed. That causes a power outage and the damage is contained to the box rather than spreading to the house.

The homes most at risk are the ones built int he 1960sand '70s, but Tremblay said copper was used up to the early '80s.

Most of those metersidentified as being at risk of fire in Reginaare in the Glencarin, Uplands and Normanview neighbourhoods.

Tremblay discouraged people from putting water around the house foundation in an attempt to stop their meters from tilting. That won't stop the ground from pulling on the wires and could be risky if there's already been damageto the box, he said.

Residents are encouraged to check their power meter boxes andsee whether the unithas tilted, which might indicate a cable has shifted.

If this is the case, residents are asked to contact SaskPower at 1-888-757-6937.

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