Safety

Electricity can be dangerous

Keep these electrical-safety best practices about powerlines in mind. 

Downed wires 
Treat downed wires as live and dangerous. If you’re near a wire, shuffle (keeping both feet touching the ground) until you are at least 20 metres away from the wires and call 911. 

Powerline insulation 
Do not assume that power lines are insulated. The insulation can be worn through exposure to weather.

Don’t forget to look down
Some electrical equipment and power lines are underground. Before digging, contact us to get underground electrical locates.

Don’t put your life on the line
Stay away from our electrical equipment and infrastructure, including transmission towers, hydro dams, power lines and substations. Respect all warning signs. Do not climb transmission towers or trespass on our property. Safety always comes first.

Safely connecting power
Safely connecting your power is our top priority. In preparation for your power connection, we ask that you take a few minutes to inspect your residence for any potential fire hazards. This includes any flammable material or liquid (ex. paper, cardboard, hand sanitizer, cleaners) placed on or near stove heating elements or any appliance that will emit heat when your electricity comes back on. It’s also a good idea to unplug sensitive appliances and equipment to avoid damage caused by potential power surges.

Stay put, stay safe

Three tips to keep you safe in the event you encounter a downed power line:

1. Driving? Stay in your vehicle and call 911. Communicate to others who may want to help you. Warn them to stay away from your vehicle.                                                                      
2. If you must exit the vehicle, jump clear with both feet together. The metal on the vehicle may be carrying the electricity from the downed power line. If you touch the metal of the vehicle and the ground at the same time, your body becomes a path for the electricity to travel and you could be electrocuted. Jumping from the vehicle with both feet ensures there is no connection between the vehicle, you, and the ground.                                   
3. Once outside the vehicle, do not touch any part of the vehicle. Move away by shuffling both feet on the ground until you are at least 20 metres away from the downed power line.

Tires are not insulators

Contact with high voltage may damage a rubber tire. The tire could fail immediately, in 15 minutes or after several days, depending on the damage.

If your vehicle has come in contact with a down power line:

• Do not drive the vehicle before carefully checking the tires.
• Allow tires to cool for at least one hour before examining.
• Have damaged tires inspected by a qualified tire facility.
• Inspect hydraulic equipment.
• Inspect computer equipment.

Learn more about our vehicle practices.

Hydro safety tips

• Avoid upstream and downstream areas of dams and hydro systems.
• Exercise caution when fishing, boating, and swimming and stay away from dams.
• During the winter and spring months, beware of thin ice. The moving water around dams makes it very difficult for ice to form properly. Activities like snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and ice fishing can be very dangerous in these areas.
• Plan your trip ahead of time and identify any water hazards including dams. When your trail takes you across a waterway make sure you have a way back out in case of rising water levels.
• Respect warning signs, boom, buoys and barriers. They are there for your protection.
• Beware that calm water can suddenly turn into rapids with a powerful undertow. This can be especially dangerous in the spring due to high inflows from spring rains and snowmelt.

Tubing on the Gaspereau River

Our dams and other infrastructure – most of which dates back to the 1920s to 1940s – along the Black River system actually create the water levels that allow tubing downstream on the Gaspereau.

How much water we can flow down the Black River system, which feeds Gaspereau River, is regulated by our environmental permits. Those rules are in place to protect fish and fish habitats. Under our environmental permits, we have to run the system 24 hours a day from April 15 to June 15 to enable fish migration – because the river has populations of smelt, gaspereau, salmon, and bass. We want to keep them healthy. But running strong river flows 24/7 drains a lot of water from the system.

At the same time, our permits also require us to maintain a certain water level on Black River Lake between Victoria Day and Labour Day – so mid-May to early-September. That’s to maintain high enough water levels for cottages along the lake, as well as for the end of the bass nesting season.

Each summer, we reach a point where those two environmental requirements intersect – we’ve drained a lot of water maintaining flows for fish migration, and so we have to reduce the flows for a few weeks to keep the water levels up in Black River Lake for the cottages and bass.

Tips before your visit

• Assess your property for potential hazards.
• Unlock your gates and clear pathways to your meter on the day of your scheduled visit.
• If you have a dog, please make certain it is properly leashed or kept in place that won’t interfere with the meter reader.
• When in doubt, give us a shout. If you’re unsure if something could pose a threat to our meter readers, ask us. It’s always better to be prepared for an event that doesn’t happen than to be caught off guard by one that does.
• Keep a safe and clear pathway. 
• Be aware of the location of your meter. What might have been free and easy access when the meter was installed could now be hazardous.
• Keep the area around your meter clean and free of debris and obstacles.
• Remove brush, plants or shrubs that may be hazardous for your meter reader.
• Remove snow and ice from the access way to your meter