Thousands without natural gas service in B.C.’s Okanagan, possibly until Sunday

A natural gas meter is seen on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

KELOWNA — FortisBC says it is working to restore natural gas service to about 6,200 customers in British Columbia’s Lake Country and north Kelowna area.

The utility says in a statement that the service disruption could mean some customers won’t have gas again until Sunday.

It says technicians have to visit every home and business in the area to turn off their service at the gas meter.

Once all the meters are shut, crews will begin adding gas back into the system, a process Fortis says is called pressurizing.

While it says pressurizing will only take three hours, crews then have to go back to all those customers to turn on their gas meters and then light appliances, such as hot water tanks and furnaces.

Fortis spokeswoman Lauren Beckett says early indications are that the outage originated within its own system but they are still reviewing the cause.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2026.