Private power producer Fortis Inc. plans to create up to 80 jobs in British Columbia by creating separate power utility businesses in B.C. and Alberta.
FortisBC said it will create about 45 to 80 new full-time jobs between its Trail and Kelowna offices in the next 18 to 24 months.
FortisBC president and CEO Philip Hughes said the new employees will help the company become more responsive to B.C. customers in the communities in which they live.
About half of the new positions will be in Trail, which will become the new base for the company's customer call centre in B.C.
FortisBC will also appoint a board whose majority will be made up of people from the company’s B.C. service territory.
“This is the fulfilment of a commitment made by Fortis Inc. to all stakeholders during the consultation process leading to the purchase of the business, and it will result in a more efficient and productive organization that will lend itself to improved customer service,” said Hughes.
Earlier this year, Fortis closed the $1.5-billion purchase of the Alberta and B.C. assets of U.S. utility company Aquila Inc., expanding beyond Eastern and Central Canada into the West.
FortisBC is an integrated utility operating in the southern interior of B.C., producing power for 140,000 customers.
The utility has four hydroelectric plants with a combined capacity of 205 megawatts and 10,000 kilometres of transmission and distribution lines.
