A Nelson Hydro project to replace wires on the North Shore has more than doubled its budget.
City council approved a budget increase from $355,000 to $847,000 last week, which Nelson Hydro general manager Alex Love said was needed to replace about 30 poles and re-align cross arms with safe work procedures.
Other reasons given were substantial increases in contractor and material costs.
The new wires will transfer more power, which Love said is required to compensate for the increase in population.
“Back in the day when the lines were built, the wires were adequate,” he said.
“But since then we’ve had a lot more customers come onto the system and they are using a lot more power, so we need to do an upgrade to give us more operating flexibility.”