At FortisAlberta, we provide your home or business with electricity - we supply you with the power that you need each and every day. The electricity that enters your home or business is transmitted along distribution power lines, which can be installed above ground or underground, and carry between 4,000 and 25,000 volts of electricity.

The electricity moves through a transformer to convert the distribution-level voltage to levels that are suitable to your home or business. Our distribution system then carries that voltage from the transformer through underground or overhead power lines to individual meters for your electrical use. This voltage ranges from 120 to 480 volts.

How electricity gets to you

Generation: About half of the electricity in Alberta is generated by coal-fired generation plants. Natural gas and renewable generation, including hydroelectric, biomass and wind-powered plants, are also sources of Alberta's electricity.

Transmission: Once generated, electricity travels across Alberta from generating plants over high-voltage transmission lines to local transformers. The transformers reduce the voltage level making it suitable for local distribution to customers.

Distribution - this is where we come in!
Electricity travels from the transformers via low-voltage distribution lines, owned by FortisAlberta, to your home or business.

Our equipment

Poles: are used to support overhead power lines and equipment. Poles range in shape and size.

Power lines: are the electrical conductor used to transport electricity from power plants to your home. Lines in your neighborhood may be placed either overhead or underground. Overhead lines are strung on power poles. These lines are usually bare and are mounted on poles with insulators. Underground lines are installed in conduits, or channels, under a home or business and are completely insulated.

Transformers (Aerial and Padmount): are used to reduce the voltage on power lines to one suitable for use in your home or business. They can be found throughout your neighborhood, either mounted on a pole or on a concrete pad. On poles, they often look like grey cylindrical devices. On the ground, they look like dark green metal boxes with several tags and warnings.

Insulators: are devices specially designed to confine the flow of electricity to the power lines. These support the power lines on the poles and prevent any other part of our equipment from becoming energized.

Cross-arms: are used in overhead lines to separate conductors horizontally. The insulators that support conductors are installed horizontally on cross-arm rather than vertically on the pole.

Fuse switches: are used in overhead lines to prevent problems that may occur in an isolated section of a power line from spreading throughout the area. This device functions just like the circuit breakers in your home or business. Upon detecting a problem, the fuse triggers and disconnects the affected section from the rest of the circuit. This isolates the problem and protects the rest of the electrical system in your area.

Riser: is a type of insulator that holds a power line vertically on a pole. Risers are used to transition power lines from overhead to underground or vice-versa.

Down guy: are non-energized wire restraints used to provide additional support to power poles. Down guys are typically used for poles with overhead lines that to be redirected, terminated or go underground via risers. In neighborhoods, they are characterized as the wires that come down from the pole into the ground at an angle, with a protective plastic shielding.